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fl  T  Tl 
U  L  l) 


MINISTERS 


FAMILIES  OF 


BY  BISHOP   MEADE. 


IN  TWO  VOLUMES. 
VOL.    II. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY. 
1910 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1857,  by 

J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  &  CO. 
in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Itewn  District  of 


The  profits  of  this  work,  if  any,  will  h  devoted  to  Missions. 


CONTENTS  OF  VOL.  II. 


ARTICLE  XLVI. 

PAOI 

ANTRIM  parish,  Halifax  county — Key.  Mr.  Dresser's  letter  about  it  to  Dr.  Hawks 
— -Sketclj  of  its  ministers— Rev.  Alexander  Hay — Evan  Ragland,  Esq. — 
Testimony  to  the  religious  belief  of  Patrick  Henry — His  answer  to  Payne's 
"Age  of  Reason" — Mr.  Grammar— Rev.  Mr.  Clark  minister  in  part  of  the 
county— His  labours  among  the  poor  and  servants 9 

ARTICLE  XL VII. 

Parishes  in  Pittsylvania,  Henry,  Campbell,  and  Bedford— Camden  parish — T?c 
vestry-book — Records  of  court  mortifying — Rev.  Mr.  G-uilliam— Church  and 
glebe— Vestrymen — Colonel  Isaac  Coles  -afid  family — Church  built  at  the  in- 
stance of  Mr.  Dresser — Patrick  parish — Rev.  Messrs.  Webb  and  Wade— Moore 
parish,  Campbell  county — Succession  of  ministers— Church  in  Lynchburg — 
Russell  parish — Imperfect  list  of  its  old  churches— Church  at  Liberty 14 

ARTICLE  XLVIII. 

Parishes  in  Amelia,  Nottoway,  and  Prince  Edward — Raleigh  and  Nottoway 
parishes — Rev.  Mr.  Brunskill — His  toryism — Threats  in  church — Churches 
in  Amelia — Families— -Egglestons,  Archers,  Bookers,  Tabbs,  Banisters,  &c. 
— Old  Grubhill — Attachment  to  the  name — Vestrymen — Rev  Messrs.  Lee  and 
Berkeley — Nottoway  parish — Its  ministers — Treatment  of  one  of  its  old 
churches — St.  Patrick's  parish,  Prince  Edward — Its  ministers — The  Rev.  Mr 
McRoberts — Contest  about  an  old  church — Mr.  William  Berkeley — Rise  and 
progress  of  Presbyterianism  in  this  part  of  Virginia — View  of  it  confirmed 
and  enlarged  by  a  friend — Hampden-Sydney  College — The  Smiths  and  others 
— The  Reads,  Mayos,  Carringtons,  Venables,  Watkins ^0 

AKTICLE  XLIX. 

Parishes  in  Cumberland,  Buckingham,  and  Fluvanna — St.  James  Southam — 
Vestry-book — List  of  its  ministers — List  of  its  churches — List  of  its  vestry- 
men— Rev.  Mr.  McClaurine — Littleton  parish — Rev.  Mr.  McCrae — Other 
ministers — Assault  on  Mr.  McCrae — His  defence  by  Patrick  Henry — The 
Carringtons — Sermon  by  Mr.  McCrae — Tillotson  parish — Its  ministers  and 
churches — Parish  of  Fluvanna — Its  ministers  and  church .„,„....  88 

ARTICLE  L. 

Fredericksville  and  Trinity  parishes,  in  Louisa  and  Albemarle  counties — Vestry- 
book — Test-oaths  and  oaths  of  allegiance — List  of  vestrymen  before  the 
division  of  the  parish — List  of  vestrymen  after  the  division — List  of  ministers 
—The  Maurys— The  Walker  family— Old  Walker's  Church— The  church's 
petition  for  funds  to  repair  it — The  new  church.. 41 

ARTICLE  LI. 

St.  Anne's  parish,  Albemarle— First  churches  ordered  in  the  time  of  the  Rev. 
Robert  Rose— Other  ministers— The  Rev.  Charles  Clay— His  patriotic  ser- 
mon— Vestrymen  in  St.  Anne's  parish — Other  churches — Later  ministers — 
Old  Ballinger  Church — General  Cocke — Church  in  Charlotteville— Mr.  Hatch 
— Mr.  Jefferson — Rev.  Zachariah  Mead — His  mode  of  curing  consumption — 
University — Its  chaplains — Pestilence  among  the  students — Extract  from  a 
funeral-sermon  delivered  by  the  author  of  these  notices — Offence  given  by  it.  48 

ARTICLE  LII. 

Parishes  in  Amherst,  Nelson,  Botetourt,  Rockbridge,  Greenbrier,  and  Mont- 
gomery— Ministers  in  Amherst  and  Lexington  parishes — Churches  in  Jie 


4  CONTENTS. 

PAGB 

same — Churches  in  Lexington  parish  after  the  division — List  of  vestrymen, 
from  the  vestry-book — Amherst  parish,  in  Nelson  county — Ministers  of  it — 
Churches— Old  one  removed  and  repaired  by  Mr.  Coles  and  Mr.  Martin— The 
family  of  Cabells— Sermon  of  the  Eev.  Mr.  O'Neale  on  the  death  of  two  daugh- 
ters of  Nicholas  Cabell — The  Massie  family— Mr.  William  Waller — Botetourt 
parish — Its  ministers  and  churches — Old  Major  Burwell  and  his  descendants 
— Church  in  Rockbridge — Its  ministers  and  church — The  prospect  at  Wythe- 
ville,  Abington,  &c,. • 67 

AETICLE  LIII. 

St.  George's  parish,  Spottsylvania  county — The  Rev.  Mr.  Slaughter's  history  of 
it — Governor  Spottswood — Germanna — Colonel  Byrd's  account  of  Fredericks- 
burg — List  of  its  ministers — Of  its  churches — Of  its  vestrymen — The  two 
Maryes — Rev.  Mr.  Thornton — General  Washington's  visit  to  Fredericksburg 
—Republican  mode  of  choosing  a  minister— Rev.  Samuel  Low— Berkeley  pa- 
rish— Its  ministers  and  churches..... . 68 

AETICLE  LIV. 

St.  Mark's  parish,  Culpepper — Its  first  vestrymen — Church  at  Germanna — Colo- 
nel Byrd's  account  of  it  and  the  place— The  German  settlement  there,  and 
its  removal — Numerous  churches  in  Culpepper — List  of  vestrymen,  from  the 
old  vestry-book — The  Rev.  Mr.  Thompson— His  letter  to  Mrs.  Spottswood, 
audits  effect — Mr.  Woodville  and  family '  ' 

AKTICLE  LV. 

Churches  in  St.  Thomas  parish,  Orange  county — The  Rev.  Mr.  Earnest's 
account  of  them — Names  and  locations  of  the  churches — Major  Burton — 
Indian  antiquities  on  the  Rapidan  River— Benjamin  Cave  an  early  settler 
— Plate,  the  gift  of  the  grandmother  of  President  Madison-— The  letter  of 
James  Madison,  Sr.  to  Mr.  Leland,  the  Baptist  preacher,  about  -the  use  of 
our  churches — The  Rev.  Matthew  Maury  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Waddell  employed 
to  preach  in  them — The  latter  administered  the  Lord's  Supper  to  our  people 
— Mr.  Wirt's  account  of  him  exaggerated — List  of  ministers — Rev.  Mr.  Marye 
—Old  Mrs.  Madison's  Confirmation  by  Bishop  Moore „ 84 

AKTICLE  LVI. 

Genealogy  of  the  Madison  and  Taylor  families,  from  the  papers  and  diary  of 
President  Madison  and  his  father— President  Madison's  religious  character 
— His  mother's  piety — His  wife's  baptism  late  in  life — Attachment  of  the 
Taylors  and  Madisons  to  the  Church — Philip  Williams's  oration  on  the  death 
of  Mr.  Madison  and  view  of  his  course  in  relation  to  the  Church — Favourable 
opinion  of  his  religious  belief. 96 

AETTCLE  LVIL 

Northern  Neck  of  Virginia — -Bounds  of  the  Northern  Neck — Fairfax  family — 
Its  history  in  England — Four  volumes  of  letters,  &c.  recently  published— 
Their  Protestant  character  at  an  early  period — The  Rev.  Henry  Fairfax — 
Rev,  Denny  Martin  and  Rev.  Bryan  Fairfax — History  of  Cromwell's  great 
general,  George  William  Fairfax,  of  Belvoir — Address  to  the  descendants 
— The  Carter  family — John  and  his  wives — Robert  (alias  King)  Carter  and  Ms 
wives — Councillor  Carter,  of  Nomini — His  excellency  but  eccentricity — Mr. 
Charles  Carter,  of  Shirly — His  generosity  to  the  widow  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Currie  and  to  the  poor — King  Carter's  character 105 

ARTICLE  LVIIL 

Parishes  in  Lancaster  county — Old  vestry-books — The  loss  of  one  of  them — 
Discipline  proved  by  them — Account  of  my  visit  to  Christ  Church  ir  1837 — 


CONTENTS.  5 

FAG» 

The  tombs  of  the  Carters  and  their  wives — The  Kellys— The  epitaphs — The 
repairing  of  the  church— White  Chapel  Church,  St.  Mary's  parish — A.  list  of 
the  ministers  of  both  parishes — A  list  of  the  vestrymen — Tombs  at  White 
Chapel — The  family  of  Balls— The  Rev.  Mr.  Waddell — Eecords  of  thft  court 
— Letter  of  Joseph  Ball,  from  London,  to  his  sister,  the  mother  of  General 
Washington,  concerning  the  project  of  young  Washington's  entering  th«  navy 
— Also  a  letter  to  his  nephew  after  Braddock's  defeat 116 

AllTICLE  LIX. 

Parishes  in  Northumberland  county — Wycomico  and  St.  Stephen  parishes — 
Early  history  of  the  county — Ministers  of  the  county — Old  Wycomico — Visits 
of  Bishop  Moore  and  myself— Its  downfall— The  sale  of  its  bricks  and  non- 
payment— Its  Communion-vessels  in  the  church  at  Millwood — History  of  the 
Lee  family — Richard  Henry  Lee  and  children — Old  Stratford  House  built  by 
Queen  Caroline — Old  Northumberland  House — Mr.  Presley,  and  Presley 
Thornton — Postscript — Further  notice  of  the  Lees — The  Corbin  family — Old 
vestry-book  found — (See  Appendix) 131 

AETICLE  LX. 

Cople  parish,  Westmoreland — Ministers  of  it — Churches  of  it — Yeoconiico — 
Visit  to  it  in  1834 — The  McGuire  family— The  Newton  family — Tombstones 
and  epitaphs  in  Cople  parish— Contest  about  the  church— Judge  McComas's 
letter — Letter  of  Mr.  Rogers,  of  Princeton,  New  Jersey 147 

ARTICLE  LXI. 

Washington  parish,  Westmoreland  county — The  ministers — Rev.  Mr.  De  Butts 
— His  letter  to  the  Bishop  of  London — Rev.  Archibald  Campbell — History 
of  himself  and- family — Old  Round  Hill  and  Pope's  Creek  Churches — Other 
ministers — Washington's  birthplace — A  visit  to  it  and  the  vault — Proposition 
before  the  Legislature  in  relation  to  them — Leeds  or  Bray's  ChurcJa — The 
town  a  cradle  of  Virginia  patriotism — Resolutions  there  adopted,  (See  Ap- 
pendix)— Bishop  Payne's  letter  about  Old  Round  Hill  Church,  and  his  family 
— The  Washington  family — The  wills  of  the  two  brothers  John  and  Law- 
rence, the  first  settlers  in  Virginia — The  vault  at  Stratford — Thomas  Lee 
buried  at  Pope's  Creek  Church , 158 

AETICLE  LXII. 

Farnham  and  Lunenburg  parishes,  Richmond  county — Records  of  the  court  at 
Tappahannock— Magistrates  of  old  Rappahannock  county  and  Sittenhurne 
parish — Records  of  Richmond  county— Principal  families — Farnham  parish 
and  churches — Ministers — Vestrymen — Address  of  the  vestry  to  it — letters 
to  and  from  Bishop  Madison — My  visit  to  Farnham  Church  in  1837— Inmen- 
burg  parish  and  churches — Ministers — Controversy  between  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Kay  and  some  of  his  vestry — Rev,  Mr.  Giberne — Letter  of  a  friend  (Colonel 
Carter)  in  Lunenburg  parish,  concerning  the  old  churches  and  ministers— 
The  Tayloe  family — Micous  and  Fauntleroys  intermarry 172 

ARTICLE  LXIIL 

Parishes  in  King  George— Changes  in  their  boundaries — Hanover  parish. — Its 
churches  and  ministers— Its  vestrymen,  from  the  vestry-book  and  records  of 
the  court — Rev.  Mr.  Boucher — Letter  of  General  Washington  to  him — Recent 
history  of  the  parish — The  Turner  family — Brunswick  parish — Its  ministers, 
churches,  and  vestrymen— St.  Paul's  parish— Old  vestry-book  and  register, 
begun  by  the  Rev.  David  Stuart,  and  continued  by  his  son,  William  Stuart — 
Their  long  and  excellent  ministry— Other  ministers— St.  Paul's  Church — My 
visit  to  it  in  1812  or  1813— The  old  African  woman— History  of  the  Fitz- 
hugh  family • «• 183 

ARTICLE  LXIY. 

Overwharton  parish,  Stafford  county — Alexander  Scott — His  tombstone — K*r 
Mr.  Moncure — His  history  by  Mrs.  Wood — Tomb  of  her  mother — Dea.ti.  o* 


6  CONTENTS. 

the  Rev.  Mr.  Moncure — Letter  of  George  Mason,  of  Gunston,  on  me 
—Ministers  after  Mr.  Moncure— Old  Aquia  Church— Old  Potomac  Church 
— Letter  of  Judge  Daniel,  giving  an  account  of  the  old  families  around  the        } 
two  churches 197 

ARTICLE  LXY. 

Dettingen  parish,  Prince  William  county— Vestry-book— Ministers— Rev. 
James  Scott—His  descendants—His  son  and  the  duel— Churches  in  the 
parish — Old  pieces  of  Communion-plate — Dumfries — Care  of  the  vestry  in 
having  apprentices  instructed — Rev.  John  Scott  buried  in  the  old  church  at 
Winchester — His  history — Ministers  after  him — Names  of  vestrymen  and 
lay  readers 207 

AETICLE  LXVI. 

Hamilton  and  Leeds  parishes,  Fauquier — Fate  of  the  vestry-book — Rev.  Mr. 
Keith — Rev.  Mr.  Brunskill — The  churches — Other  ministers — Rev,  Mr. 
Thomson's  patriotic  sermon — Oakhill — The  principal  families — Rev.  Mr. 
Lemmon — Judge  Marshall — Anecdotes  of  him — Tenderness  to  Mrs.  Marshall 
—His  religious  opinions — Letter  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Norwood 216 

ARTICLE  LXVII. 

Truro  parish,  Fairfax  county — Rev,  Charles  Green — Rev.  Lee  Massey — Ser- 
mons of  Mr.  Massey — First  vestry  an  unlawful  one — Pohick  Church,  when 
built — Vestrymen  of  it — Contest  between  Washington  and  Mason  about  the 
site — My  visit  to  it  in  1837 — Its  repairs — Sketch  of  the  Mason  family — 
Mother  of  Temple  Mason — Her  pious  letters — The  Lewis  family — Martin 
Cockburn — The  Hendersons — The  Rev.  Mason  Weems — Mount  Vernon  after 
the  death  of  Mrs.  Washington — The  Blackburns — Judge  Washington — Two 
letters  from  Mr.  Stoddert,  of  Maryland,  concerning  the  Rev.  Lee  Massey, 
George  Johnson,  and  Martin  Cockburn,  and  Mrs.  Cockburn — Mistake  in  the 
same — General  Washington's  English  coach *.  22$ 

ARTICLE  LXVIII. 

Keligious  character  of  Washington — The  Rev.  Mr.  McGuire's  book — Washing- 
ton's early  advantages  under  pious  friends  and  ministers — Early  indication 
of  pious  feelings — His  public  documents  prove  it — The  general  voice  ascribes 
it  to  him — His  private  devotion — His  public  acts  when  a  young  officer — His 
correspondence  with  Governor  Dinwiddie — His  private  diary  testifies  to  it—- 
As General  of  the  army,  his  orders  are  marked  by  it — His  respect  for  the 
Sabbath  as  private  citizen  and  President  of  the  United  States — His  condem- 
nation of  swearing,  of  gambling,  of  duelling — His  belief  of  a  special  Provi- 
dence— How  far  he  was  addicted  to  hunting — Was  he  a  communicant? — 
Bishop  White's  account  of  it — His  last  moments 242 

ARTICLE  LXIX. 

Fairfax  parish — Christ  Church — Original  names  of  Alexandria — Churches* — 
Ministers— Rev.  Bryan  Fairfax— Rev.  Dr.  Griffith— Visit  to  the  Falls  Church 
— Dr.  McQuerr— Griffith  chosen  first  Bishop — His  zeal  in  the  cause  of  the 
Church — Correspondence  with  Dr.  Buchanon — Case  of  the  glebe — List  of 
vestrymen — George  Taylor  and  Edmund  I.  Lee 266 

ARTICLE  LXX. 

fit.  Paul's  Church,  Alexandria,  Cameron  and  Shelburne  parishes,  London 
county—Separation  from  Christ  Church  under  Mr.  Gibson — Purchase  of 
Old  St.  Paul's — First  vestry — Other  vestrymen — New  church — Liberality  of 
Mr.  McLean. — Bishop  Claggett — Bishop  Madison — List  of  ministers — Came- 
ron parish — Its  ministers  and  churches — Shelburne — Its  churches  and  minis- 
ters and  vestrymen — Rev.  Dr.  Griffith — Rev.  Mr.  Dunn — The  glebe — Lawsuit 
—Its  vestrymen 2/1 


CONTENTS.  7 

AETICLE  LXXI. 

PA6U 

Parishes  in  Frederick  county — The  Valley  of  Virginia — Mr.  Jefferson's  opinion 
of  it  correct — Germans  the  first  settlers — The  Sites — Presbyterians  tolerated 
— First  vestry  condemned — Log  churches — Lord  Fairfax — List  of  the  vestry- 
man— Lay  readers — Ministers — Alexander  Balmaine — Mrs.  Hannah  Wash- 
ington— Cunningham's  Chapel 27C 

ARTICLE  LXXII. 

Continuation  of  ministers — Old  parish  divided  into  four — New  churches — Free 
a,ad  common  churches  opposed — Burwell  graveyard — List  of  vestrymen  con- 
tinued -The  Burwell  family — Governor  Nicholson  and  Miss  Burwell — Ed- 
mund Randolph — His  account  of  the  infidelity  of  the  age  at  William  and  Mary  287 

ARTICLE  LXXIII. 

Norbourne  parish,  Berkeley  county — The  Shepherds — Shepherdstown  and  its 
churches — Charlestown  and  the  old  church — The  Washingtons — The  ministers 
of  this  parish — The  Rev.  Benjamin  Allen— Martinsburg  and  the  old  church — 
The  Pendleton  family — Judge  Pendleton's  autobiography — The  value  of  re- 
spectable birth — Colonel  Edward  Colston— Other  families 2G5 

AETICLE  LXXIV. 

Morgan's  Chapel — The  character  of  Morgan  Morgan — The  family — Benjamin 
Allen— Names  of  other  ministers — New  churches — General  Charles  Lee  and 
his  impious  will — Other  Generals  around.., 802 

AETICLE  LXXV. 

Parishes  in  Hampshire  and  Shenandoah — List  of  ministers  in  Hampshire- 
Rev.  Norman  Nash  and  Bishop  Moore  about  the  study  of  the  dead  languages 
— The  old  Scotchman  and  his  commentary — The  churches  built  by  the  Messrs. 
Nash — Parish  of  Beckford,  in  Dunmore,  afterwards  Shenandoah,  county — 
Settled  by  Germans — The  Swedish  congregation  united  with  the  Episcopal 
Church  under  Peter  Mahlenburg,  afterwards  General  Muhlenburg — Sketch 
of  his  history — Downfall  of  the  Church— Recent  and  fruitless  efforts  for  its 
revival 809 

AETICLE  LXXVI. 

Parishes  in  Augusta  and  Rockingham — First  part  of  the  valley  seen  by  the 
white  man — Governor  Spottswood's  view  of  it  from  the  Blue  Ridge — First 
vestry — Its  first  ministers — Rev.  Mr.  Balmaine — His  patriotism — Address 
from  the  county  on  American  affairs — Vestrymen  and  Burgesses — The  Vir- 
ginia Assembly  driven  to  Staunton — Met  in  the  old  church — Later  ministers — 
New  church — Present  church— Old  churches  in  Rockingham — G-abriel  Jones 
— Peachy  Gttmer — The  Lewis  family 817 

AKTICLE  LXXVH. 

Churches  in  Brooke  county — Dr.  Doddridge's  account  of  the  neglect  of  the  Epis- 
copal Church  in  the  West — Objections  to  it — Dr.  Doddridge's  history  and 
character — His  labours  in  Brooke  county — The  churches  in  it — The  minis- 
ters— The  case  of  Western  Virginia — Proposition  to  divide  the  Diocese — The 
result — Extract  from  my  pamphlet  on  the  subject ,  827 

ARTICLE  LXXVIH. 

Churches  in  Wheeling,  Clarksburg,  Fairmont,  Weston,  and  Buchanon — Dr. 
Doddridge  the  first  who  preached  in  Wheeling — Bishop  Chase  moved  its 
organization — Mr.  John  Armstrong  the  first  rector — Names  of  the  first  ves- 
trymen— Succession  of  vestrymen— Succession  of  ministers — Churches — 
Action  of  the  vestry  as  to  the  division  of  the  Diocese — Mr.  Simms— Judge 
Caldwell — Resignation  of  the  Rev.  William  Armstrong — Church  in  East 


8  CONTENTS. 

Wheeling  established  with  the  approbation  of  Mr.  Armstrong — Its  ministers 
— Glebe-house  and  church — Church  in  Clarksburg — Its  ministers  and  church 
— Case  of  Mr.  McMechin — Mr.  Despard — Church  in  Weston — Its  ministers — 
Church  in  Fairmont — Its  ministers — Buchanon 886 

ARTICLE  LXXIX. 

Churches  in  Kanawha,  at  Ravenswood,  Parkersburg  and  its  vicinity,  New 
Martinsville,  and  Moundsville — Rev.  Mr.  Page  first  minister  in  Kanawha — 
Other  ministers — The  church  in  Charleston — Its  history — List  of  vestrymen 
— Old  Mrs.  Quarrier  and  family — The  Salines — Coalsmouth — Its  churches — 
The  Hudsons  and  Thompsons — Vestrymen — Stations  on  the  Kanawha — 
Point  Pleasant — Mercer's  Bottom — Brace  Chapel — Ravenswood  Church — Its 
builders — Vestrymen — Ladies'  association — Ministers — Bellville  Church — 
Its  builder — Parkersburg — Its  church — Ministers — Vestrymen — Cow  Creek 
Church — New  Martinsville — Moundsville ,  344 

ARTICLE  LXXX. 

The  General  Church — The  Church  in  Maryland — Dr.  Chandler's  testimony — 
Bishop  White's  opinion  of  the  old  clergy — Sir  William  Berkeley's  wish  as  to 
schools  and  printing — Church  in  South  Carolina — Her  first  missionaries — 
The  sermons  of  that  day  in  England  and  America — Dr.  Coke's  estimate  of 
the  clergy — Tillotson's  sermons  the  best  in  use — Tracts  of  the  Christian 
Knowledge  Society — Mr.  Wilberforce — The  Rev.  Mr.  Bacon,  of  Maryland — 
Instruction  of  servants — Moralizing  preaching — My  first  acquaintances 
among  the  clergy — Bishop  White,  Dr.  Abercrombie,  Bishop  Hobart,  &c. — Dr. 
Percy,  of  South  Carolina — His  tracts — His  history — My  tour  in  favour  of  the 
Colonization  Society — Acquaintances  formed — Results  of  it — General  Con- 
vention— Hymns  added  to  the  Prayer-Book — History  of  it — Public  baptism 
and  pious  sponsors  recommended — Francis  Key — Great  deference  for  Bishops 
— A  change  in  that  respect — Proposed  alteration  in  the  thirty-fifth  canon — 
The  general  seminary — Judge  Cameron — Bishop  White's  statement — My  own 
— Proposed  changes  in  the  service — Episcopal  Sunday-School  Union — Evan- 
gelical Knowledge  Society — Missionary  Society  of  the  Church — Memorial  and 
commission  of  Bishops — My  letter  to  the  commission — Concluding  remarks..  851 

APPENDICES. 

No.  1. — Journal  of  the  Convention  of  1719 898 

No.  2. — Celebration  at  Jamestown  in  1807 420 

No.  3. — Origin  of  the  names  of  parishes 425 

No.  4.—  List  of  names  of  old  families  of  Virginia,  and  of  those  from  Wales......  428 

No.  5. — Rolph's  letter  concerning  the  early  settlements  in  Virginia 430 

No.  6.-  -Association  in  the  Northern  Neck,  in  1766,  against  the  Stamp  Act....  434 
No.  7. — Sundry  Acts  of  the  Virginia  Assembly,  memorials,  &c.,  from  the  year 

1/76  to  1802,  concerning  the  Episcopal  Church 436 

No.  8. — Dr.  Hawk's  account  of  the  last  years  of  the  Church,  glebe  question,  &c.  446 

No.  9. — Judge  Story's  opinion  in  the  Supreme  Court  on  the  glebe  question 452 

No.  10. — John  Randolph's  recantation  of  Gibbon's  principles 469 

No.  11. — The  Rev.  David  Mossom's  epitaph 460 

No.  12. — Genealogy  of  the  Ellis  family 460 

No.  13.— Of  the  Baylor  family 464 

No.  14. — The  Peyton  family 466 

No.  15. — Ministers,  £c.  of  St.  Stephen's  and  Wycomico  parishes,  Northumberl'd  467 

No.  16. — Extracts  from  Ralphe  Hamor..., 469 

No.  17. — The  Brokenbrough  and  Fauntleroy  families 474 

No.  18.— The  Beverley  family 481 

No.  19. — The  Phillips  and  Fowke  families ' 482 

No.  20. — Further  and  more  accurate  information  concerning  Pohick  Church...  484 
No  21. — The  inscription  on  Commissary  Blair's  tombstone  in  the  old  graveyard 

at  Jamestown , , „ 486 

No  22.— Episcopal  High  School ]  488 

No.  23. — Further  Statements  concerning  the  Religious  Character  of  Washing- 
ton and  the  Question  whether  he  was  a  Communicant  or  not 490 

No.  24.— Extract  from  the  "  Virginia  Almanac  '  for  1776 495 

No.  25. — Blissland  ^arish.  New  Kent  County 4% 


,  mtb  Jfamilies 


or 


YIRGINIA. 

ARTICLE  XLVI. 

Antrim  Parish,  Halifax  County. 

WHEN  Halifax  county  was  divided  from  Lunenburg,  in  1752,  it 
comprehended  all  that  is  now  Pittsylvania,  Henry,  Franklin,  and 
Patrick.  Antrim  parish  was  coextensive  with  the  county.  At 
the  time  of  its  establishment  it  is  probable,  from  certain  entries  in 
the  vestry-book,  that  there  were  no  churches  or  chapels  in  its  wide 
extent,  for  the  readers  who  had  been  appointed  before  the  separa- 
tion— four  in  number — were  reappointed,  and  several  gentlemen 
were  allowed  to  have  services  in  their  own  houses,  doubtless  for  the 
benefit  of  their  neighbours  as  well  as  their  own  families.  Besides 
this,  when  the  first  minister  was  settled  among  them  he  was  required 
to  officiate  at  six  different  places,  at  no  one  of  which  was  there  a 
church  or  chapel,  though  at  some  of  them  buildings  were  about  to 
be  erected.  Four  were  ordered  at  some  of  the  earliest  meetings 
of  the  vestry,  and  others  afterward.  One  of  the  places  of  reading 
is  recognised  as  being  on  Pigg  River,  in  Franklin  county  that  now 
is.  The  buildings  were  small,  either  log  or  frame,  and  not  very 
durable,  generally.  The  first  movement  toward  getting  a  minister 
was  in  the  year  1752,  when  a  title  to  the  parish  was  given  to  a  Mr. 
William  Ohisholm,  a  candidate  for  Orders,  who  wished  to  be  pre- 
pared with  that  indispensable  qualification  when  he  should  present 
himself  to  the  Bishop  of  London ;  but,  as  usual,  there  was  this 
condition: — "Provided,  on  his  return,  the  vestry  approved  of  him 

for  their  minister,  or  should  not  have  accepted  any  other  in  his 

9 


10  OLD   CHUBCHES,   MINISTERS,   ANB 

absence."  Nothing  more  is  heard  of  Mr,  Ohisholm ;  nor  can  I  find 
his  name  on  any  of  the  lists  of  clergy  ordained  by  tbe  Bishop  of 
London  for  any  part  of  America. 

What  follows  in  regard  to  the  parish  of  Antrim  I  take  from  a 
letter  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Dresser,  in  the  year  1830,  addressed  to  the 
Rev.  Drs.  Hawks  and  Rutledge,  who  were  then  engaged  in  writing 
a  history  of  the  different  dioceses  of  the  Church  in  this  country. 

THE  REV.  MR.  DRESSER'S   LETTER. 

"  The  earliest  mention  of  a  clergyman  in  the  minutes  of  the  vestry  is 
in  1753,  when  it  was  'ordered  that  two  thousand  pounds  of  tobacco  be 
paid  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Proctor,  for  services  by  him  done  and  performed  for 
this  parish/  And  at  the  same  meeting,  'on  motion  of  James  Foulis, 
clerV  and  for  reasons  appearing  to  this  vestry,  he  is  received  and  taken 
&„  sinister  of  this  parish/  The  name  of  Mr.  Foulis  continues  to  appear 
on  the  minutes  of  the  vestry  until  1759,  when  tradition  relates  that  he 
went  away,  nobody  knew  whither,  and  that  he  was  not  for  a  long  time,  if 
ever  afterward,  heard  from.  In  1762  the  Rev.  Thomas  Thompson  offi- 
ciated a  few  months,  and  then  resigned  his  charge,  in  consequence  of  hirc 
age  and  the  extent  of  the  parish.  The  next  spring  the  Rev.  Alexander 
Gordon,  from  Scotland,  became  rector  of  the  parish,  and  continued  to 
officiate  until  the  commencement  of  our  Revolution,  when,  being  disaffected 
toward  the  new  order  of  things,  he  retired,  and  spent  his  remaining  days 
near  Petersburg.  Some  of  his  descendants  are  still  remaining  in  the 
parish,  among  whom  are  some  of  the  brightest  ornaments  and  chief  sup- 
porters of  the  Church.  Of  his  own  morals,  however,  and  those  of  his 
predecessor,  (Foulis,)  tradition  does  not  speak  in  unmeasured  terms. 

"  From  the  time  of  his  departure  until  1787,  I  find  no  parish  records, 
and  know  but  little  of  the  Church  during  that  interval.  The  Rev.  James 
Craig,  of  Cumberland  parish,  Lunenburg,  however,  officiated  a  part  of  the 
time  in  this  county  during  three  or  four  of  the  last  years, — a  gentleman 
highly  esteemed  both  as  a  man  and  a  preacher. 

"  In  May,  1787,  a  Convention  of  the  deputies  from  the  several  parishes 
of  the  State  was  held  at  Richmond,  and  an  ordinance  passed,  regulating 
the  appointment  of  vestries,  &c.  The  same  year  a  new  vestry  was  elected 
in  this  county,  and,  in  1790,  Rev.  Alexander  Hay,  likewise  from  Scotland, 
was  inducted  into  the  parish.  He  is  represented  as  having  been  a  man 
of  superior  talents  and  attainments,  and,  from  some  specimens  of  his  ser- 
mons which  I  have  met  with,  he  seems  to  have  been  strictly  orthodox  and 
evangelical ;  but,  if  report  speak  truly,  he  was  not  endowed  by  nature 
with  a  very  mild  temper,  and  he  soon  found  himself  in  a  situation  not  the 
most  favourable  for  the  cultivation  of  the  passive  virtues  of  our  religion 
He  was  hardly  inducted  into  the  parish  before  petitions  began  to  be  pre- 
sented to  the  Legislature  for  the  sale  of  the  glebe,  but  without  success. 
As  serving  to  throw  some  light  on  the  condition  of  the  parish  and  Church 
at  that  time,  I  shall  send  you  herewith  two  manuscripts  from  the  pen  of 
Mr.  Hay, — one  an  address  to  the  vestry  or  parish  generally,  and  the  other 
a  remonstrance  to  t*  \  Legislature.  The  ill  temper  manifested  by  him  in 
these  and  oth«r  transactions,  or  some  other  cause,  made  several  of  the 
most  influential  gentlemen  in  the  county  his  personal  enemies,  and  they 
neglected  no  means  to  harass  and  thwart  him.  Some  of  them  he  prose- 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  li 

outed  for  slander,  but  obtained  no  damages.  Under  the  operation  of  such 
causes,  as  you  may  well  suppose,  the  Church  continued  to  decline.  To 
give  you  some  idea  of  the  rapidity  of  this  decline,  I  will  make  a  few  ex- 
tracts from  the  parish  register  during  the  first  twenty  years  of  Mr.  Hay7 a 
ministry  : — 

"<1792.  Baptisms,  89  whites,  35  blacks.    Marriages,  11.    Funerals,  I.' 

"'1802.  Baptisms,  31  whites,  6  blacks.     Marriages,  3.     Funerals,  6.' 

"'1810.  Baptisms,  6  whites,  7  blacks.  Marriages,  none.  Funerals, 
none/ 

"During  the  same  time  the  whole  amount  of  subscriptions  in  the  parish 
for  his  support,  the  glebe  then  being  occupied  by  him,  was  three  hundred 
and  forty-five  pounds  six  shillings  and  elevenpence, — a  little  more  than 
seventeen  pounds  per  annum.  'For  the  last  seven  years  of  this  time/  he 
says,  '  during  which  my  attendance  was  not  constant,  and  my  services  partly 
discontinued,  from  an  almost  total  want  of  encouragement  of  any  kind, 
there  was  nothing  subscribed/ 

"  I  neglected  to  say,  in  the  proper  place,  that  measures  were  early  taken 
for  the  erection  of  churches  in  different  parts  of  the  parish.  Of  these, 
one  was  rebuilt  by  subscription  in  1793-94,  but,  no  title  to  the  land  having 
been  secured,  it  was  afterward  converted  into  a  dwelling-house.  Another, 
having  fallen  into  disuse  and  being  out  of  repair,  was  taken  down  and  the 
materials  used  in  the  erection  of  a  Baptist  meeting-house.  A  third,  having 
been  sometimes  used  for  the  double  purpose  of  a  tobacco-barn  and  stable, 
was  demolished  and  some  of  the  timbers  used  in  building  a  store  on  the 
same  site.  The  last,  having  been  repaired  in  1795-96,  was  burned  to  the 
ground  a  few  years  since,  having  been  set  on  fire  by  some  one,  it  is  said, 
who  wished  to  obtain  the  nails.  It  is  proper  to  remark  that  it  had  been 
some  time  unused,  and  was  probably  in  a  dilapidated  state. 

"  In  1816  or  1817,  after  the  Church  had  begun  to  revive  in  other  parts 
of  the  State,  and  the  late  Bishop  Eavenscroft  was  beginning  to  make  her 
claims  known  in  the  adjoining  county  of  Mecklenburg,  a  small  edifice  was 
erected  about  three  miles  from  this  place,  in  which  Mr.  Hay  preached  a 
few  times  before  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1819.  Here  also  Mr.  Ea- 
venscroft  occasionally  preached  before  his  elevation  to  the  Episcopacy,  and 
admitted  three  or  four  persons  to  the  communion.  The  situation  of  this 
church  not  proving  favourable  for  an  Episcopal  congregation,  it  has  re- 
cently been  sold  to  the  Methodists  and  the  proceeds  appropriated  toward 
the  erection  of  another  in  this  village. 

"In  1814,  Evan  Eagland,  Esq.,  dying,  left  a  large  estate,  consisting  of 
land,  negroes,  &c.,  to  the  Church,  with  various  provisions,  but  designed 
primarily  and  chiefly  for  the  support  of  a  minister  or  ministers  in  this 
parish.  This  will  was  contested  by  the  heirs-at-law  of  said  Eagland,  and 
its  execution  opposed  on  several  grounds.  Accordingly  a  suit  was  com- 
menced by  Mr.  Hay  on  the  part  of  the  Church,  he  being  particularly  in- 
terested, and  the  case  was  decided  in  his  favour  in  the  Court  of  Chancery. 
From  thence  it  was  carried  up  to  the  Court  of  Appeals,  where  the  decision 
was  likely  to  be  reversed.  After  the  death  of  Mr.  Hay,  however,  agents 
or  commissioners  were  appointed  by  the  Convention  on  the  part  of  the 
Church,  who  were  authorized  to  make  a  compromise  with  the  heirs  of  Mr 
Eagland.  This  they  effected,  and  the  case  was  of  course  dismissed  from 
court.  By  the  terms  of  the  compromise,  the  land,  which  in  the  mean  time 
had  considerably  depreciated  in  value,  was  sold,  and  bonds  to  one-fourth 
of  the  amount  were  executed  to  the  agents  for  the  purposes  specified  in 


12  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

cite  will.  The  last  of  the  bonds  is  now  due,  and  the  Convention  is  ex 
pected  to  determine  at  its  next  meeting  what  shall  be  done  with  the 
money,  amounting  to  one  thousand  seven  hundred  or  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  dollars. 

"  In  1820  or  1821,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wingfield — now  of  Portsmouth  parish, 
near  Norfolk,  but  then  residing  with  Mr.  Ravenscroft — officiated  several 
months,  perhaps  a  year,  in  the  county,  with  the  view  of  permanently  esta- 
blishing himself;  but  he  did  not  meet  with  sufficient  encouragement  to 
persevere.  Four  or  five  years  since,  Mr.  Steel,  the  successor  of  Bishop 
Ravenscroft  in  Mecklenburg,  was  called  to  the  county  to  perform  some 
official  duty.  This  led  to  an  arrangement  for  him  to  preach  once  a  month 
at  Mount  Laurel  Church,  which  had  been  built  a  few  years  previous, 
3hiefly  by  Episcopalians,  but  with  the  condition  that  it  should  be  free  to 
others  when  not  used  by  them.  Subsequently  he  made  an  arrangement 
to  preach  one  Sunday  in  a  month  also  in  the  court-house,  which  he  con 
tinued  to  do  until  the  close  of  1828.  In  the  spring  of  the  same  year  1 
received  ordination,  and  was  directed  by  the  Bishop  to  make  this  the  field 
of  my  labours.  These  I  commenced  the  first  Sunday  in  June,  and  was 
well  received  by  a  few,  though  I  found  great  ignorance  of  the  Church 
prevailing,  and,  among  many,  the  most  bitter  prejudices  against  her. 
These  prejudices,  I  am  happy  to  say,  appear  to  be  dying  away,  and  the 
Prayer-Book  is  becoming  more  and  more  popular.  During  the  last  year 
I  have  admitted  to  the  Communion  eight  persons,  and  baptized  three  adults 
and  sis  children.  A  commodious  brick  church  is  now  nearly  ready  for 
consecration  in  this  village,  and  a  smaller  place  of  worship  has  been  erected 
for  me  during  the  past  year  in  another  part  of  the  county.  My  Sunday 
labours  are  divided  between  these  congregations,  but  I  am  often  invited 
to  preach  in  Baptist  and  Methodist  meeting-houses ;  and,  did  my  stated 
duties  permit,  I  might  preach  much  oftener  than  I  do,  where  twenty  years 
ago  a  minister  of  our  Church  would  have  had  little  but  the  bare  walls  for 
an  auditory.  This  I  mention  merely  to  show  the  decline  of  prejudice. 

"  Thus  I  have  given  the  annals  of  my  parish  as  far  as  I  have  been  able 
to  collect  them ;  and,  lest  I  should  prove  tediously  prolix,  I  will  touch 
upon  but  one  point  more.  It  is  stated,  in  an  article  which  I  saw  some 
time  ago,  from  the  '  Protestant  Episcopalian/  and,  I  presume,  from  one 
of  you,  that  Patrick  Henry  was  once  an  infidel,  &c.  His  widow  and 
some  of  his  descendants  are  residing  in  this  county,  and  I  am  authorized 
by  one  of  them  to  say  that  the  anecdote  related  is  not  true.  He  ever  had, 
I  am  informed,  a  very  great  abhorrence  of  infidelity,  and  actually  wrote 
an  answer  to  'Paine's  Age  of  Reason/  but  destroyed  it  before  his  death. 
His  widow  has  informed  me  that  he  received  the  Communion  as  often  as 
an  opportunity  was  offered,  and  on  such  occasions  always  fasted  until  after 
he  had  communicated,  and  spent  the  day  in  the  greatest  retirement.  This 
he  did  both  while  Governor  and  afterward.  Had  he  lived  a  few  years 
longer,  he  would  have  probably  done  much  to  check  the  immoral  influence 
of  one  of  his  compatriots,  whose  works  are  now  diffusing  the  poison  of 
infidelity  throughout  our  land." 

Mr.  Dresser  became  the  minister  of  this  parish  in  1828,  and 
continued  in  it  until  1838,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  its  present 
rector,  the  Rev.  John  Grammar.  Under  Ms  ministry  the  congre- 
gation has  become  one  of  the  largest  in  the  diocese.  A  church  at 


FAMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA.  13 

Meadville  was  built  many  years  since,  but  has  failed  to  effect  what 
was  hoped  from  it.  A  large  and  costly  church  has  been  built  at 
the  court-house,  in  place  of  the  one  mentioned  by  Mr.  Dresser,  in 
which  one  of  our  largest  country-congregations  assemble  every 
Sabbath. 

List  of  the  old  Vestrymen  of  Antrim  Parish,  from  1752  to 

James  Terry,  Richard  Echols,  Thos.  Dillard,  Thos.  Galloway,  Richard 
Brown,  William  Irby,  Merry  Webb,  Peter  Wilson,  William  Wynne,  John 
Guillingtine,  John  Owen,  Nathaniel  Terry,  Geo.  Currie,  Samuel  Harris, 
Andrew  Wade,  Jas.  Dillard,  Robert  Wooding,  Archibald  Gordon,  John 
Bates,  Edward  Booker,  Hugh  Junis,  Geo.  Watkins,  Alexander  Gordon, 
Thomas  Tunstall,  John  Donaldson,  Evan  Ragland,  Benjamin  Dickson, 
William  Thompson,  George  Boyd,  Moses  Terry,  William  Sims,  Walter 
Coles,  Edward  Wade,  Isaac  Coles,  John  Coleman,  William  Terry,  Michael 
Roberts,  John  Ragland,  Armistead  Washington,  Joseph  Hobson,  George 
Carrington,  Thomas  Davenport,  John  Faulkner,  Edmund  King,  Joseph 
Sandford,  Thomas  Thweat,  John  Ervine,  Daniel  Wilson,  Thomas  Clark, 
Evan  Ragland,  Jr.,  Joseph  Haynes,  Thomas  Lipscomb,  John  B.  Scott, 
Francis  Petty,  Daniel  Parker,  George  Camp,  William  Thomas,  Jno.  Wat- 
tington,  Achilles  Colquett,  Hansom  Clark,  John  A.  Fowlkes,  Chas.  Meri- 
wether,  Adam  Toot,  Edward  Boyd,  Thomas  Clark,  Beverly  Syndor,  Jos 
Hewell,  Samuel  Williams,  Littlebury  Royster,  Benjamin  Rogers,  Chilton 
Palmer,  John  Haynes,  Sceevor  Torian,  Robt.  Crute,  Granville  Craddock, 
Edward  Carlton,  William  Fitzgerald,  Isham  Chasteen,  Icare  Torian,  Isaao 
Medley,  John  R.  Cocke,  William  Scott. 

To  them  we  may  add  other  names,  cnougn  not  vestrymen,  yet 
from  the  time  of  efforts  for  reviving  the  Church,  taking  an  interest 
in  it  and  contributing  to  it, — such  as  the  Bruces,  Ligons,  Greens, 
Wimbishses,  Leighs,  Banks,  Logans,  Borums,  Edmundsons,  Fon- 
taines, Carringtons,  Baileys,  &c. 

In  another  part  of  the  county  of  Halifax  the  Rev.  Mr.  Clark 
has  been  for  many  years  doing  a  good  work,  chiefly  among  the 
poor  and  servants,  to  whom  he  has  devoted  time  and  labour  without 
compensation,  being  enabled  by  Providence  so  to  do.  Under  his 
auspices,  and  not  without  considerable  pecuniary  aid  on  his  part, 
three  new  churches  have  been  erected  in  that  part  of  the  county. 


14  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 


ARTICLE  XLVIL 

Parishes  in  Pittsylvania,  Henry ,  Campbell,  and  Bedford.— 
Camden  Parish,  Pittsylvania. 

THE  names  of  this  county  and  parish  tell  their  own  origin.  Pitt 
and  Camden  are  names  familiar  to  the  English  and  American  ear. 
They  were  divided  from  Halifax  and  Antrim  in  the  year  1767.  At 
different  times,  subsequent  to  this,  Henry,  Patrick,  and  Franklin 
were  taken  from  Pittsylvania,  but  no  new  parishes  established, 
except  in  Henry,  the  Church  and  State  having  been  separated, 
so  that  the  two  last  of  them  were,  according  to  Colonial  law,  in 
the  parish  of  Camden,  until  the  Episcopal  Convention  made  other 
arrangements.  There  are  no  records  of  the  vestry-meetings  in  this 
parish;  yet  the  records  of  the  court  show  that  vestrymen  were 
regularly  elected,  and  had  the  same  duties  assigned  them  as  in 
other  places.  To  them  were  assigned  the  processioning  of  lands, 
the  binding  out  poor  and  unfortunate  children,  and  the  punishment 
of  offences  against  the  moral  law.  Rude  as  was  the  state  of  so- 
ciety, it  is  a  fact  that  these  officers  did  sometimes  punish  certain 
violations  of  the  law  of  God,  as  Sabbath-breaking,  profane  swearing, 
and  incontinence,  which  now  are  never  noticed.  It  is  also  a  fact 
that  the  sins  of  the  fathers  being  visited  upon  children  to  the  third 
and  fourth  generation,  and  children's  teeth  being  set  on  edge  by 
the  eating  of  sour  grapes  on  the  part  of  their  parents,  is  remark- 
ably exemplified  in  the  case  of  the  descendants  of  those  who  nearly 
a  century  ago  were  bound  out  on  account  of  the  immorality  of 
the  parents.  These  descendants,  bearing  the  same  name,  are 
objects  of  the  same  action  by  the  overseers  of  the  poor  as  their 
ancestors  were  by  the  churchwardens. 

As  to  the  ministers  of  Camden  parish  before  the  revival  of  the 
Church  in  Virginia,  we  find  but  one  on  all  our  lists.  In  the  year 
1774, — seven  years  after  the  establishment  of  the  parish, — we  find 
the  name  of  the  Rev.  Lewis  Guilliam.  Would  that  we  could  find 
it  nowhere  else !  but,  alas,  on  examining  the  records  of  the  court, 
we  there  find  his  name,  not  connected  with  the  registry  of  baptisms 
and  marriages,  as  perhaps  none  would  call  on  him  for  these  offices, 
but  with  continual  petty  law-suits,  in  which  he  was  almost  always 
the  loser.  Shame  and  contempt  covered  his  whole  life.  He  was 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  15 

a,  Scotchman,  and  never  married.  As  to  churches,  I  have  heard 
of  one  about  twenty  miles  from  the  court-house.  In  the  year  1778, 
Mr.  Richard  Chamberlaine,  of  St.  Peter's  Church,  New  Kent,  con- 
veyed to  the  vestry,  for  one  hundred  and  sixty  pounds,  five  hun- 
dred and  eighty-eight  acres  of  land.  On  this  land  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Guilliam  lived.  One  of  the  vestrymen,  to  whom  the  land  was 
conveyed, — John  Donelson, — emigrated  to  Tennessee,  and  was 
the  father  of  Mrs.  General  Jackson.  The  glebe  lay  on  the  road 
to  Henry  Court-House,  a  few  miles  from  "  Callands."  It  doubtless 
shared  the  fate  of  other  glebes.  The  other  vestrymen  were  John 
Pigg,  Crispin  Shelton,  John  Wilson,  Peter  Perkins,  Thomas  Billard,, 
Hugh  Innes,  Theodoric  Lacy,  Abram  Shelton,  George  Rowland., 
Robert  Chandler,  and  William  Witcher. 

The  descendants  of  the  above,  by  the  same  and  other  names, 
are  scattered  over  this  and  the  surrounding  counties.  There  is 
one  family  in  the  county  which  has  contributed  so  much  to  keep 
alive  the  hope  of  the  Church  in  this  parish,  in  her  darkest  days, 
that  I  must  give  it  a  passing  notice.  Colonel  Isaac  Coles,  ancestor 
of  a  number  of  that  name  in  this  region,  and  uncle  of  those  in 
Albemarle,  married  first  a  Miss  Lightfoot,  of  York,  (a  maid-servant 
of  whom,  one  hundred  and  ten  years  old,  is  still  alive  and  in  the 
family,)  and  had  one  son  by  her, — Mr.  Isaac  Coles,  of  Halifax.  His 
second  wife  was  a  Miss  Thompson,  from  New  York,  with  whom  he 
became  acquainted  while  member  of  Congress,  and  whose  sister  mar- 
ried Blbridge  Gerry.*  By  this  marriage  he  had  a  numerous  off- 
spring, who  are  dispersed  through  this  county  and  other  places.  At 
a  time  when  the  venerable  widow,  and  her  daughter  Mary,  who 
married  James  M.  Whittle,  were  almost  the  whole  Church  in  that 
region,  I  always  made  the  old  mansion  in  which  they  lived  a 
stopping-place  and  a  house  of  prayer,  for  the  mother  had  long 
been  confined  to  it.  The  Lord's  Supper  was  always  administered 
to  her.  Many  baptisms  and  confirmations  of  children,  and  chil- 
dren's children,  have  I  performed,  and  happy  religious  seasons  en- 
joyed in  that  "  Church  in  the  House." 

The  mother  and  the  daughter  above  mentioned  were,  in  person 
and  character,  striking  and  impressive.  Great  was  the  parental 
anxiety  of  the"  widow  and  the  mother  for  all  her  children's  welfare* 
and  tender  and  faithful  was  the  filial  piety  of  the  daughter,  who 
devoted  herself  to  the  comfort  of  the  aged  mother.  May  the 
descendants  of  both  of  them  follow  their  holy  example,  and  not 

*  They  were  married  in  the  year  1790,  by  Bishop  Prorost. 


16  OLD   CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,  AND 

only,  like  them,  love  and  nourish  the  Church  of  their  ancestors, 
but  the  holy  standard  of  religion  which  it  lifts  up  on  high. 

By  the  exertions  of  this  family,  and  a  few  others, — the  Smiths 
and  Slaughters,  Millers  and  Sheltons, — and  under  the  auspices  of 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Dresser,  then  minister  in  Halifax,  now  at  Jubilee 
College,  in  Illinois,  a  church  (St.  Andrew's)  was  built  in  this  part 
of  the  county,  and,  for  a  time,  hopes  were  entertained  that  a  per- 
manent congregation  might  be  established  there ;  but  deaths  and 
removals  have  disappointed  these  hopes.  In  relation  to  Danville 
and  the  court-house,  after  a  visit  from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Towles,  and 
numerous  visits  from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Clark,  the  services  of  the  Rev. 
Mr,  Dame  were  secured  in  1840,  for  the  joint  purpose  of  teaching 
young  females  and  building  up  the  Church.  At  his  first  coming 
there  were  only  eight  communicants,  and  they  all  females,  in  the 
three  counties  of  Pittsylvania,  Franklin,  and  Henry.  Since  hia 
ministry,  one  hundred  and  twenty  have  been  added,  exclusive  of 
those  coming  from  other  parishes.  A  new  church  has  been  built 
in  Danville,  and  another  at  the  court-house,  since  Dr,  Dame's 
coming,  in  1840.  He  is  still  the  minister  of  the  parish,  and  will, 
I  hope,  long  continue  to  be  so. 

HENRY  COUNTY,   PATRICK   PARISH. 

The  county  of  Henry  was  separated  from  Pittsylvania  in  the 
year  1776,  and  the  parish  of  Patrick  from  Camden  in  1778  ;  but  no 
steps,  we  believe,  were  ever  taken  to  build  churches  and  procure 
ministers.  Our  fathers  were  then  in  the  midst  of  the  war,  and 
every  thing  was  unfavourable  for  such  an  enterprise.  Patrick  Henry, 
after  whom  both  the  county  and  parish  were  probably  called,  was 
then,  I  believe,  a  delegate  from  this  part  of  the  State,  having  his 
abode  and  much  land  here.  Some  of  his  descendants  are  here  to 
this  day.  Some  readers  were  probably  exercising  their  functions 
in  private  houses  in  this  county,  but  we  hear  of  no  settled  pastor. 
The  first  efforts  at  the  establishment  of  the  Church,  in  later  days, 
were  made  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  "Webb,  while  a  teacher  of  youth,  can- 
didate for  the  ministry,  and  lay  reader  at  Henry  Court-House. 

He  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Mr,  Wade,  a  native  of  the 
county,  and  descendant  of  some  whose  names  have  hitherto 
appeared  among  the  vestrymen  of  adjoining  parishes.  During 
his  ministry  a  church  has  been  erected  at  the  court-house,  arid 
the  foundation  of  a  promising  congregation  laid.  He  occasionally 
officiated  in  Franklin  county.  No  parish  was  ever  established  by 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  17 

law,  or  otherwise,  in  either  Franklin  or  Patrick,  until  of  late  years, 
when  one  was  erected  in  the  former,  where  there  is  a  prospect  of  our 
having  a  respectable  settlement,  as  we  trust,  before  many  years. 

CAMPBELL  COUNTY. 

Campbell  was  separated  in  1781,  just  at  the  close  of  the  war, 
when  the  civil  Legislature  was  ceasing  to  act  for  the  affairs  of  the 
Church.  Nothing  is  said  of  a  parish.  That  was  reserved  for  our 
Convention  at  a  later  period.  The  first  minister  in  Lynchburg — 
the  Rev.  Amos  Tredway — is  said  to  represent  Lynchburg  parish, 
and  by  that  name  does  it  still  go.  Subsequently,  Moore  parish  is 
established  in  the  county.  In  Lynchburg,  the  Rev.  Franklin  G. 
Smith  succeeded  Mr.  Tredway,  in  1825,  and  continued  for  about 
fourteen  years.  The  Rev.  Thomas  Atkinson  (now  Bishop)  suc- 
ceeded Mr.  Smith,  and  the  Rev.  William  H.  Kinckle,  the  present 
rector,  ^succeeded  him  in  1844.  An  excellent  brick  church  was 
erected  in  the  time  of  Mr.  Smith,  and  a  larger  and  much  costlier 
one  in  the  time  of  Mr.  Kinckle. 

In  Moore  parish,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Osgood  was  the  first  who  taught 
school  and  ministered.  Under  his  care,  St.  John's  Church  was 
erected.  In  its  loft  was  his  vestry-room  and  chamber,  and,  near 
at  hand,  his  school-house.  The  present  location  of  St.  John's  is 
not  the  same  with  its  original  one,  it  having  been  found  that  a 
more  convenient  one  might  be  had  a  mile  off,  to  which  it  was  moved 
on  rollers.  After  the  removal  of  Mr.  Osgood  to  the  West, — 
where  he  died, — the  Rev.  Mr.  Tompkins  took  his  place  in  both 
departments  for  many  years,  preaching  at  St.  John's,  and  at 
another  position  some  twelve  miles  off.  Since  his  removal  to 
Western  Virginia,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kinckle,  of  Lynchburg,  has,  by 
occasional  services,  kept  alive  the  hopes  of  our  few  but  zealous 
members  in  that  part  of  the  county,  sometimes  aided  by  the  visits 
of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Clark,  of  Halifax,  until,  during  the  last  year,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Locke,  having  settled  himself  at  Campbell  Court-House, 
took  charge  of  both  of  the  congregations,  and  added  to  it  a  new 
one  at  the  place  of  his  residence.  A  church  has  recently  been  pur- 
chased and  consecrated  at  that  place,  and  the  friends  of  the  Church 
in  that  part  of  the  county  are  encouraged  to  hope  for  better  times. 

KUSSELL  PARISH,  BEDFORD  COUNTY. 

The   county  of  Bedford  was     separated   from   Lunenburg  in 
The  parish  of  Russell  was  established  in  it  at  the  same 
VOL.  IL— 2 


OLD    CHUBCHBS,    MINISTERS,  AND 

time.  Both  were  enlarged  in  the  year  1754  by  the  addition  of  a 
part  of  Albemarle,  then  of  large  extent.  The  present  county  of 
Campbell  was  included  in  the  original  bounds  of  the  parish  of 
Russell  and  county  of  Bedford. 

On  our  list  of  clergy  for  1754  and  1758,  we  find  no  minister 
from  Bedford.  In  the  years  1773-74-76,  we  find  the  Rev.  John 
Brandon.  Doubtless  there  were  ministers  there  during  the  twenty 
years  of  which  there  are  no  records.  Our  Conventions  under  the 
independent  system,  after  the  Revolution,  commenced  in  1785 
and  continued  until  1805 ;  but  there  is  no  representation,  either 
clerical  or  lay,  during  that  period.  The  first  representation  from 
that  region  was  in  the  year  1823,  when  the  Rev.  Amos  Tredway 
appears  as  a  delegate  from  Lynchburg,  then  in  Campbell  county. 
But  Mr.  Tredway  officiated  also  at  New  London,  in  Bedford,  as 
had  also  the  Rev.  Mr.  Dashiel,  who  had  the  academy  at  New 
London,  though  he  was  never  in  regular  connection  with  the 
diocese. 

In  the  year  1825  the  Rev.  Nicholas  H.  Cobbs  appears  as  the 
first  regular  representative  from  Russell  parish.  Its  revival  is  to 
be  ascribed  under  Grod  to  his  zealous,  and  for  a  long  time  almost 
gratuitous,  services,  since  his  support  was  mainly  derived  from  a 
school.  Under  his  ministry  St.  Stephen's  and  Trinity  Churches 
were  built,  and  other  positions,  as  Liberty,  and  Mr.  Wharton's, 
occupied,  where  churches  are  now  to  be  seen.  Mr.  Cobbs  con- 
tinued his  indefatigable  labours  until  the  year  1835,  when  he 
removed  to  the  University  of  Virginia,  and,  after  two  years' 
service  as  chaplain,  returned  to  Bedford,  and  continued  until  1839, 
when  he  removed  to  Petersburg.  Mr.  Cobbs  was  succeeded,  for  a 
short  time,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Doughen,  after  which  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Marbury  took  charge  of  the  parish,  and  was  succeeded  by  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Cofer.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Kinsolving  followed,  and,  after 
some  years,  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  R.  H.  Wilmer,  the  present 
minister. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Sale  has  been  for  many  years  occupying  other 
parts  of  the  county  of  Bedford,  as  at  St.  Thomas's  Church,  built 
under  his  auspices,  at  Liberty,  at  Trinity  Church,  when  separated 
from  St.  Stephen's,  and  at  Pedlar's  Church,  in  Amherst  county. 
While  labouring  on  a  farm  and  raising  a  large  family,  he  has 
performed  the  duties  of  minister  for  a  very  small  pecuniary  com- 
pensation. 

A  new  church  was  built  at  Liberty,  in  this  county,  during 
the  ministry  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Caldwell,  who  spent  some  time  at 


FAMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA.  19 

that  place  after  the  removal  of  Mr.  Cobbs.  After  the  removal  of 
Mr.  Oaldwell  the  Rev.  Mr.  Sale  took  charge  of  it,  and  still  is  its 
canonical  rector,  although  the  duty  of  preaching  is  performed  by 
the  Rev.  John  Wharton,  who  has  for  some  years  been  acting  as 
sub-deacon.  There  are  now  no  less  than  four  parishes  in  that  parf 
of  old  Russell  parish  which  lay  in  Bedford  county,  as  now  reduced 
in  its  dimensions.  No  parish  register  is  found  to  supply  a  list  of 
the  old  vestrymen  of  this  parish.* 


*  I  have  "been  told  of  two  other  old  churches  in  Bedford  county,  and  as  many 
other  ministers,  and  had  a  promise  of  their  names,  but  something  has  prevented 
its  fulfilment. 


20  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS.  AND 


ARTICLE  XLVIIL 
Parishes  in  Amelia,  Nottoway,  and  Prince  JSdward. 

AMELIA  county  was  cut  off  from  Prince  George  in  the  yeai 
1734.  Raleigh  parish  was  established  in  the  following  year.  In 
the  year  1T54  the  Rev.  Musgrave  Dawson  was  minister  of  Raleigh 
parish,— how  long,  if  before,  not  known.  He  was  not  the  minister 
in  1758.  The  Rev.  John  Brunskill  was  minister  in  1773-74-76.* 


*  The  folio-wing  is  from  an  aged  lady : — 

The  Egglestons  are  of  Irish  extract,  but  came  over  to  this  country  from 
England,  and  settled  first  on  the  Eastern  Shore  of  Virginia.  After  some  time  two 
brothers — William  and  Joseph — came  to  Amelia  county,  and  located  near  the  central 
position,  where  they  lived  to  the  time  of  their  death.  They,  with  Mr.  Thos.  Tabb, 
Colonel  Archer,  and  Mr.  Edward  Booker,  of  Winterham,  built  Grubhill  Church, 
which  was  supplied  by  a  minister  sent  from  England,— Parson  Brunskill, — who, 
although  not  an  acceptable  preacher,  always  had  large  congregations,  composed  of 
the  families  immediately  around,  and  many  from  a  distance.  Those  who  had 
galleries  in  the  church  were  the  Tabbs,  Egglestons,  and  Bookers, — one  public 
gallery. 

On  one  occasion,  when  the  house  was  full,  just  before  the  Revolutionary  War, 
when  the  whole  Colony  was  incensed  against  England,  Parson  Brunskill  arose,  and, 
seeing  Colonel  Archer  and  one  or  two  other  gentlemen  dressed  in  regimentals, 
called  them  rebels,  and  expressed  himself  indignant  to  see  such  indications  of  a 
general  rebellion,  and  said  he  should  write  immediately  to  the  King  and  inform 
against  them.  Whereupon  nearly  every  one  in  the  church  got  up  and  left  the 
house,  not  before  warning  him,  however,  never  to  repeat  such  language,  or  he 
would  receive  harsh  treatment  added  to  disrespect.  He  never  attempted  «<i 
preach  afterward,  but  lived  a  quiet  secluded  life  at  the  glebe,  about  five  miles 
iron  Grubhill.  Mr.  McCreary  was  his  successor, — a  most  pious  and  worthy  mar, 
whose  sons  fought  in  the  Revolution. 

The  following  is  from  high  authority : — 

Joseph  Eggleston,  Sen.  moved  to  Amelia  county  in  1758  or  '59,  as  shown  by  the 
baptism  of  his  third  child  by  the  Rev.  John  Fox,  in  Ware  parish,  Gloucester 
county,  in  1758,  and  of  his  fourth  child  by  the  Rev.  John  Brunskill,  in  Raleigh 
parish,  Amelia  county,  in  1759,  as  recorded  in  his  Bible,  now  in  the  possession  of 
Ms  family.  This  proves  that  the  Rev.  John  Brunskill  was  in  this  parish  in  1769, 
where  he  continued  till  Ms  death  in  1803  or  1804.  The  Rev.  John  Brunskill  was 
thought  to  be  an  amiable  man  and  an  indulgent  master,  but  stood  very  low  for 
piety,  and  the  ruin  of  the  Church  here  was  attributed  to  him.  He  died  at  his 
glebe,  near  Amelia  Court-House,  in  180$  or  1804,  in  good  circumstances,  leaving 
hit1  servants  free,  and  every  thing  else  to  a  Mr.  Richard  Booker. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  21 

It  does  not  appear  to  have  been  represented  in  any  of  the  Conven- 
tions subsequent  to  the  Revolution,  until  some  years  after  the 
revival  of  the  Church,  except  in  the  years  1790  and  1791,  by  a 
lay  delegate, — Mr.  John  Royall.  It  is  believed  that  Mr.  Brunskill 
lived  for  many  years  to  be  a  dead  weight  upon  the  Church.  He 
never  married,  and  lived  a  solitary,  uncomfortable  life.  It  is 
stated  of  him,  and  on  authority  entirely  to  be  relied  on,  that,  upon 
the  declaration  of  war,  he  proclaimed  from  the  pulpit  that  to  take 
part  in  it  was  rebellion ;  upon  which  the  gentlemen  arose  and 
carried  their  families  out  of  the  church,  and,  on  consultation, 
determined  to  inflict  punishment  upon  him,  which  was  only  pre- 
vented by  the  interference  of  two  of  the  elder  and  most  influential 
gentlemen  present.  But  he  was  never  permitted  to  officiate  again, 
a  lay  reader  being  appointed  to  take  his  place.  He  continued 
until  his  death  to  hold  the  glebe  and  to  live  upon  it. 

Of  the  churches  in  Amelia  I  have  received  accounts  from  two 
of  the  oldest  persons  now  living  in  it.  There  was  one  called  Hun- 
tington,  (long  since  in  ruins,)  about  five  miles  northwest  of  the 
court-house.  There  was  another  called  Chinquapin  Church,  in 
the  upper  part  of  the  county,  built  about  the  year  1749  or  1750, 
at  a  place  since  called  Paineville,  There  were  three  other  churches, 
called  Rocky  Run,  Avery's,  and  Pride's,  in  different  parts  of  the 
county,  two  of  which  have  been  claimed  as  private  property,  taken 
down,  and  used  for  farming-purposes,  Of  old  Grubhill  Church 
we  have  more  particular  accounts.  A  venerable  lady,  now  living, 
and  in  her  ninetieth  year,  remembers,  when  a  child,  to  have 
accompanied  her  parents  to  this  church,  and  knows  that  the 
timber  for  it  •  was  furnished  from  her  father's  and  uncle's  lands, 
(Messrs.  William  and  Joseph  Eggleston.)  Another  old  lady,  now 
deceased,  is  known  to  have  said  that  in  the  year  1768  she  saw 
the  workmen  laying  the  floor  of  the  wing  of  the  church,  the  main 
body  having  probably  been  built  some  years  before.  I  have 
been  visiting  that  old  building  since  the  year  1827  or  1828. 
It  was  even  then  in  a  somewhat  tottering  condition  as  to  the 
galleries,  which  had  been  put  up,  with  the  permission  of  the 


The  families  who  attended  Grubhill  Church  were  the  Bookers,  Tabbs,  Eggles- 
tons,  Archers,  Royalls,  and  Meades. 

The  plate  was  kept  by  Joseph  Eggleston,  Sen.  and  Jr.,  till  the  death  of  the 
latter,  and  was  sold  by  order  of  the  court  a  few  years  after, — in  1815* 

The  Archer  family  is  one  of  early  settlement  in  Virginia,  and  of  high  respect- 
ability. Some  of  them  formed  a  part  of  that  happy  and  interesting  circle  of  which 
Judge  Tucker  speaks  as  dwelling  in  York  before  the  Revolutionary  War. 


22  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

vestries,  by  some  of  the  old  families  of  Egglestons,  Banisters, 
Tabbs,  Archers,  &c.,  for  their  own  use.  Although  cold  in  winter, 
hot  in  summer,  at  all  times  dark  and  uncomfortable,  (being  high 
up,  and  near  the  roof,)  yet  such  was  the  old  family  feeling  of  at- 
tachment to  them  on  the  part  of  the  descendants  of  those  who 
built  and  first  occupied  them,  that  even  after  it  became  somewhat 
unsafe  to  sit  in  them,  being  propped  up  with  lareje  poles  and  in 
other  ways,  they  could  not  be  induced  to  abandon  them.  This 
presented  an  obstacle  for  some  time  to  remodelling  and  im praying 
other  parts  of  the  church ;  and  the  attachment  to  the  whole 
building,  such  as  it  was,  though  decaying  and  very  uncomely  and 
uncomfortable,  for  a  long  time  stood  in  the  way  of  a  new  and 
better  one, 

At  length  old  feelings  were  so  much  subdued  as  to  permit  a  new 
one  to  be  erected  and  the  old  one  to  be  removed.  The  attachment 
to  the  old  name,  Grubhill,  though  neither  classical  nor  scriptural, 
was  so  great,  that  not  even  a  compromise,  by  which  it  should  be 
called  St.  Paul's,  Grubhill,  would  be  accepted  by  those  whose 
antiquarian  feelings  were  distressed  by  the  change  of  the  name 
given  it  by  their  ancestors  and  so  long  in  use.  The  history  of  the 
transaction  is  on  the  pages  of  the  vestry-book. 

As  names  are  not  always  things,  we  trust  that  the  divine 
blessing  will  be  as  abundantly  poured  out  on  the  religious  services 
performed  in  it  tinder  the  old  and  homely  name  of  Grubhill,  as  of 
any  other.  Of  the  two  extremes,  an  undue  attachment  to  old 
things,  or  an  undue  fondness  for  new,  we  prefer  the  former,  as  most 
conservative ;  but  u  medio  tutissimus  ibis." 

Having  had  access  to  the  vestry-book  of  Raleigh  parish,  com- 
mencing in  1790,  we  are  enabled  to  furnish  a  list  of  the  vestry- 
men from  that  date.  At  an  election  at  that  time  we  find  the 
name  of  William  Giles,  John  Pride,  Richard  Eggleston,  John  Wiley, 
John  Archer,  Joseph  Eggleston,  Rowland  Ward,  John  Towns,  Jr., 
Daniel  Hardaway, — John  Archer  and  Richard  Eggleston  being 
made  churchwardens.  From  that  time  until  the  year  1827  there 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  any  election  of  vestrymen,  or  any 
thing  done  in  the  parish.  In  that  year  the  Rev.  William  F.  Lee 
was  elected  minister,  and  the  following  gentlemen  vestrymen : — 
Hodijah  Meade,  John  R  Robertson,  Charles  Eggleston,  T.  R. 
Banister,  W.  A.  Mileston,  Benjamin  L.  Meade,  W.  J.  Barksdale, 
William  Murray ;  to  whom  were  added,  at  different  times,  John 
Booker,  James  Allen,  Jaqueline  Berkeley,  Dr.  Thomas  Meaux, 
Dr.  Skelton,  Daniel  Worsham,  William  Barksdale,  Jr.,  Dr.  Skelton, 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  23 

Jr.,  B.  M.  Jones,  Thomas  G.  Tabb,  Egbert  Leigh,  J.  W.  Lane, 
Thomson  Walthall.  Here  my  list  ends. 

I  have  already  said  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lee,  of  whom  I  have 
spoken  more  fully  in  another  place,  became  the  minister  in  182T. 
In  the  year  1835  the  Rev,  Farley  Berkeley,  the  present  minister, 
took  charge  of  it,  connecting  with  it  the  pastorship  of  either  the 
church  in  Chesterfield,  or  that  at  Genito  Bridge,  in  Powhatan,  or 
sometimes  of  both.  I  see  from  the  vestry-book,  that  he  has  ever 
insisted  on  an  annual  election,  though  the  vestry  protest  against  it 
as  unnecessary,  and  record  the  same.  How  different  from  former 
days,  when,  though  Governors,  Commissaries,  and  clergy  ever 
protested  against  annual  elections,  the  vestries  insisted  on  them. 
The  difference  arises  from  the  great  difference  in  the  character  of 
the  clergy  generally.  I  know  of  but  one  parish  in  the  dioceso 
which  follows  this  ancient  custom,  and  peculiar  circumstances  in 
its  past  history  led  to  this.  The  clergy  of  our  day  are  ready  to 
relinquish  their  charges  the  moment  they  believe  their  services 
are  unacceptable  and  unprofitable,  while  the  people  are  anxious  to 
retain  as  long  as  possible  the  labours  of  a  worthy,  pious,  and 
zealous  minister. 

I  have  only  to  add,  in  relation  to  Raleigh  parish,  that  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Chevers,  a  few  years  since,  devoted  himself  very  diligently  to 
the  effort  at  establishing  the  congregation  at  Chinquapin  Church, 
but,  after  two  years'  faithful  services,  relinquished  it  as  a  hopeless 
task  at  the  present  time.  "Non  si  male  nune  et  olim  sic  erit" 

NOTTOWAY  PARISH,  NOTTOWAY  COUNTY. 

Nottoway  county  was  separated  from  Amelia  in  the  year  1788. 
Nottoway  parish  was  established  in  the  county  of  Amelia,  being 
separated  from  Raleigh  parish  before  the  year  1752  and  after  the 
year  1748.  There  being  no  account  of  the  Acts  of  Assembly  for 
1749-51,  in  Henning,  I  am  unable  to  decide  the  precise  year. 
In  the  year  1754,  and  again  in  1758,  the  Rev.  "Win.  Proctor  was 
the  minister, — the  same,  no  doubt,  of  whom  mention  is  made  in 
the  vestry-book  of  Halifax.  In  the  years  1773-74-76,  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Wilkinson  is  the  minister.  Of  him  I  have  found  a  good 
account.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Jarratt  informs  us  that  Dr.  Cameron  was 
its  minister  for  about  two  years  after  leaving  Petersburg  in  1793, 
but  was  obliged  to  resign  for  want  of  support.  This  was,  no 
doubt,  the  last  of  Episcopal  services  in  this  parish,  except  some 
occasional  ones  of  late  years.  As  to  the  churches  in  this  parish, 


24  OLD   CHUBCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

all  that  I  have  been  able  to  learn  is  from  the  Act  of  Assembly  m 
1755,  by  which  the  parish  of  St.  Patrick  is  established  in  the  county 
of  Prince  Edward.  It  seems  that  the  county  of  Prince  Edward  had 
been  separated  from  Amelia  the  previous  year,  and  from  that  part 
of  it  in  which  the  parish  of  Nottoway  lay,  but  no  new  parish  was 
then  cut  off  from  it  and  established  in  Prince  Edward.  But  now, 
in  1775,  the  parish  of  St.  Patrick  is  taken  from  Nottoway  and 
made  to  correspond  with  the  bounds  of  Prince  Edward.  At  a  later 
period  (1788)  Nottoway  county  is  established,  corresponding,  I  pre- 
sume, with  the  bounds  of  old  Nottoway  parish  in  Amelia.  The  Act 
speaks  of  two  new  churches  being  recently  built  in  the  lower  part 
of  Nottoway  parish,  and  requires  the  parish  to  refund  a  portion  of 
the  money  which  had  been  raised  from  the  whole  parish  for  their 
erection,  to  be  refunded  to  the  new  parish  in  Prince  Edward.  Where 
these  churches  are  situated,  and  what  were  their  names,  and  what 
others  had  been  there  before,  I  am  unable  to  say.* 

ST.  PATRICK'S  PARISH,  PKINCE  EDWARD  COUNTY. 

We  have  seen  that  the  county  was  established  in  1754  and  the 
parish  in  1755.  In  the  year  1758  the  Rev.  James  Garden  is  its 
minister.  We  find  him  there  also  in  1773, — fifteen  years  after.  In 
the  years  1774  and  1776  the  parish  has  no  minister.  In  the  years 
1777  and  1778  the  Rev.  Archibald  McRoberts  was  the  minister. 
We  have  already  spoken  of  his  relinquishment  of  our  ministry  in 
she  year  1779.  With  his  ministry  Episcopal  services  no  doubt 


*  I  have  an  old  leaf  from  a  vestry-book,  without  the  name  of  the  parish  on  it,  ir, 
which  I  find  the  Eev.  John  Brunskill  minister  in  1753,  Major  Thomas  Tabb  and 
Major  Peter  Jones  churchwardens,  William  Craioby,  Wood  Jones,  William  Archer, 
Richard  Jones,  and  Samuel  Cobb,  vestrymen.  This  must  certainly  be  a  part  of  the 
old  vestry-book  of  Raleigh  parish,  and  Mr.  Brunskill  must  have  been  its  minister 
in  1753.  In  the  following  year  (1754)  he  was  certainly  in  another  parish,  and  Mr, 
Bauson  in  this.  He  must  have  returned  to  this  before  the  year  1773,  or  else  one 
of  the  same  name,  for  there  were  three  John  Brunskills  in  Virginia  at  this  time. 

"  In  the  year  1829  or  1830,"  writes  a  friend,  "while  riding  with  a  friend  from 
Prince  Edward  Court-House  to  Nottoway  Court-House,  I  noticed,  near  to  a  farm- 
house on  the  road,  a  barn  of  singular  appearance.  *  Yonder  barn,'  I  remarked, 
'looks  much  like  some  of  the  old  Colonial  churches  I  have  seen,'  *  It  was  a  church 
of  the  Old  Establishment,'  was  his  reply.  <  The  present  owner  of  the  farm,  (which 
I  think  had  been  the  glebe,)  finding  it  vacant  and  on.  land  which  was  once  a  part  of 
the  tract  he  purchased,  and  as  it  was  near  his  house,  had  it  put  on  rollers  and  re- 
moved to  its  present  position  for  the  use  you  see.  There  was  no  one  to  forbid  the 
sacrilege,  or,  if  so,  it  was  without  avail ;  but  the  act,  I  believe,  is  condemned  by  the 
general  sentiment  of  this  community  as  that  of  a  coarse-minded,  unscrupulous  votary 
&f  mammon.' " 


FAMILIES    OF    VIRGINIA.  25 

ceased  in  Prince  Edward,  as  we  see  no  representativej  either  clerical 
or  lay,  in  any  Convention. 

There  were  in  Mr.  McRoberts's  time  three  churches  in  Prince 
Edward,  one  of  which,  or  the  congregation  thereof,  separated  with 
him.  Their  names  were — 1st.  The  Chapel  or  Watkins's  Church, 
about  eighteen  miles  from  Prince  Edward  Court-House,  on  the 
Lynchburg  Road,  which  was  the  one  whose  congregation  followed 
Mr.  McRoberts  in  his  movement  toward  an  Independent  Church. 
It  is  now  occupied  by  different  denominations.  2d.  French's 
Church,  which  was  about  a  mile  from  the  court-house  and  is  now 
gone  down.  3d.  Sandy  River  Church,  on  Sandy  River,  about 
eight  miles  from  the  court-house  on  the  Petersburg  Road.  This 
last  church  is  now,  I  am  told,  occupied  by  the  Baptist  denomination. 
I  have  in  my  possession  a  pamphlet  of  some  twenty-two  pages, 
containing  an  account  of  a  controversy  concerning  it  between  the 
Methodists  and  Baptists  in  the  years  1832-34.  When  deserted 
by  the  Episcopalians  it  had  been  repaired  by  general  subscription, 
and  at  several  different  times  occupied  as  a  free  church.  In  the  year 
1832  the  Baptists  obtained  a  title  to  it  and  claimed  sole  right  to  it, 
though  not  refusing  to  allow  the  Methodists  the  use  of  it  at  su,*h 
times  as  the  owners  might  choose.  The  Me  Jiodists  were  unwilling 
to  accept  these  terms,  and  much  unhappy  disputation  ensued.  At  one 
time  two  ministers  of  each  denomination  met  on  the  same  day  and 
were  in  the  pulpit  together,  and  the  vote  of  the  congregation  as  to 
who  should  preach  was  taken.  The  matter  was  referred  to  two 
men  eminent  in  the  law, — Judge  Thomas  Bouldin  and  Mr.  Charles 
Smith.  They  determined  that  the  deed  recently  given  to  the 
Baptists  was  not  good,  that  the  one  given  to  the  churchwardens  at  the 
first  creation  of  the  church  was  the  legal  title,  and  that  it  belonged 
now  to  the  Commonwealth  of  Virginh,  unless  there  was  an  older 
and  better  title  than  that  of  those  who  made  one  to  the  church- 
wardens, and  to  this  they  were  inclined,  and  therefore  advised  that 
the  line  be  run  in  order  to  decide  the  point.  A  line  was  run,  and 
it  passed  through  the  church ;  and  so  a  part  of  it  only  was  legally 
the  property  of  the  churchwardens  and  afterward  of  the  Common- 
wealth. The  result  was  that  the  Baptists  retained  possession, 
though  the  Methodists  maintained  that  a  wall  might  be  raised 
through  the  church  according  to  the  line  run ;  but  it  was  not  done. 
If  either  Mr.  Chapman  Johnson's  opinion — that  the  churches  were 
the  property  of  Episcopalians — was  true,  or  that  of  Judge  Bouldiu 
and  Mr.  Smith,  then,  in  the  first  case,  the  Episcopalians  in  the 
county  ought  to  have  been  applied  to  to  decide  the  question,  or 


26  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

else  the  public  authorities,  either  of  which  would,  I  think,  have 
settled  it  more  amicably  and  more  to  the  honour  of  religion.  Other 
unhappy  disputes  have  occurred  concerning  our  old  churches  in 
other  places.  I  knew  of  one  where,  after  much  strife  between  two 
denominations,  the  church  was  set  up  by  them  to  the  highest  bidder. 
Who  gave  the  title,  or  what  was  it  worth?  About  another,  two 

O  ' 

parties  preached  in  different  pulpits, — one  in  the  old  Episcopal 
pulpit  and  the  other  in  a  new  one  in  a  different  part  of  the  church. 
So  far  from  their  being  always  respected  as  equally  common 
property,  I  have  myself  been  refused  admission  into  one,  while  on 
an  Episcopal  visitation,  by  those  who  claimed  it  by  the  right  of 
use.  In  relation  to  the  suggestion  that  the  Episcopalians  in  Prince 
Edward  were  the  most  proper  persons  to  decide  the  question  as  to 
the  occupancy  of  Old  Sandy  River  Church,  if  it  be  said  that  there 
were  scarcely  any  left  unto  whom  application  might  have  been  made, 
I  reply  that,  from  all  the  information  I  have  been  able  to  get,  there 
have  always  been  some  few  of  high  respectability  there.  One  at 
least  there  was,  -whose  firm  attachment  to  the  Church,  yet  catholic 
spirit  to  all  others,  and  great  weight  of  character,  were  felt  and 
acknowledged  by  all.  I  allude  to  Mr.  William  Berkeley,  son  of 
the  old  lady  of  Hanover  who  bade  the  overseers  of  t\e  poor  who 
sent  a  deputation  to  her  for  the  Communion-plate  to-  come  them- 
selves and  take  it.  He  inherited  all  his  mother's  devotion  to  the 
Church,  and  when  at  our  Conventions,  and  on  other  occasions, 
opportunity  was  presented  for  displaying  it,  never  failed  to  do  so. 
He  was  not,  however,  a  bigot  to  a  particular  Church,  but  loved  the 
whole  Catholic  Church.  In  evidence  of  which,  being  in  the  provi- 
dence of  God  placed  beyond  the  reach  of  an  Episcopal  place  of 
worship,  and  near  the  Presbyterian  College  in  Prince  Edward,  he 
not  only  attended  the  religious  services  held  there,  but  was  an 
active  member  of  the  board  of  trustees  thereof.  For  a  long  period 
of  time  he  presided  over  that  board,  fulfilling  the  duties  of  his 
station  faithfully,  and  yet  always  having  it  distinctly  understood 
that  he  was  a  true  son  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  So  amiable, 
pious,  and  dignified  a  Christian  gentleman  as  he  was  is  not  easily 
found. 

In  the  list  of  vestrymen  in  Brunswick,  Lunenburg,  Halifax,  and 
elsewhere,  we  meet  with  certain  persons  some  of  whose  descendants 
are  enrolled  on  other  registers  than  those  of  the  Episcopal  Church, 
such  as  Read,  Venable,  Watkins,  Carrington,  Cabell,  Morton,  &c., 
and  we  know  not  where  in  the  progress  of  our  work  we  can  more 
properly  introduce  some  notice  of  them  than  in  connection  with 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  27 

Prince  Edward  county  and  the  College  of  Hampden-Sydney.  We 
have  seen  how  the  Presbyterians  from  Ireland  and  Scotland,  settling 
first  in  Pennsylvania,  began  to  emigrate  to  the  Valley  of  Virginia 
about  the  year  1738, — how,  under  Mr.  Samuel  Davies,  they  were 
established  in  Hanover  and  some  parts  around  between  1740  and 
1750.  From  thence,  in  a  short  time,  they  found  their  way  into 
what  is  now  Charlotte  and  Prince  Edward,  and  made  strong  and 
permanent  settlements  there.  This  was  in  a  great  measure  effected 
by  the  establishment  of  Hampden-Sydney  College,  a  brief  history 
of  which,  taken  from  the  Sketches  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Virginia,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Foote,  will  best  enable  us  to  understand 
the  subject.  In  the  year  1774  the  ministers  and  members  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Hanover  determine  to  establish  a  public  school  in 
that  part  of  the  State, — Prince  Edward, — understanding  that  they 
can  procure  the  services  of  Mr.  Samuel  Stanhope  Smith,  then  a 
candidate  for  the  ministry  in  the  New  Castle  Presbytery,  and 
teacher  of  languages  in  Princeton  College,  afterward  the  dis- 
tinguished President  of  the  same.  Sufficient  funds  being 'raised 
and  a  place  selected,  in  November,  1774,  Mr.  Smith,  with  his 
brother,  J.  B.  Smith,  a  candidate  for  the  ministry,  and  a  third 
person,  are  regularly  chosen  to  commence  the  work.  The  first, 
being  now  ordained,  was  called  also  to  the  congregation  in  that 
place.  Under  this  most  eminent  scholar  and  eloquent  preacher 
and  his  yet  more  zealous  and  laborious  brother,  Mr.  J.  B.  Smith, 
the  institution  flourished,  notwithstanding  all  the  obstacles  of  the 
war.  In  the  year  1779  the  elder  brother  resigned  and  accepted  a 
jail  to  a  professorship  in  Princeton  College.  The  Presidency  of 
Hampden-Sydney  devolved  upon  his  most  excellent  and  devoted 
brother,  J.  B.  Smith,  who  continued  to  promote  its  welfare  and  the 
religious  interests  of  the  country  around  until  the  year  1788,  when 
he  accepted  a  call  to  a  church  in  Philadelphia.  During  the  Presi- 
dency of  the  younger  Mr.  Smith  a  charter  was  obtained  for  the 
College. 

On  the  list  of  trustees  we  find  names  to  which  our  eyes  have 
become  familiar  on  the  pages  of  the  old  vestry-books,  as  those  of 
Carrington,  Nash,  Watkins,  Morton,  Read,  Booker,  Scott,  Meade, 
Allen,  Parker,  Foster,  Johnson.  Now,  though  some  of  them  were 
doubtless  still  attached  to  the  Episcopal  Church,  since  it  was  de- 
clared at  the  outset  that  the  institution  should  be  conducted  "  on 
the  most  catholic  plan,"  and  it  was  the  best  policy  to  enlist  general 
favour  by  appointing  some  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  yet  a  con- 
siderable number  of  them  had  doubtless  given  in  their  adhesion  to 


28  OLD    CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,   AND 

the  Presbyterian  Church.  Whereupon,  ever  since  that  time,  we  have 
found  most  of  the  above-mentioned  names  in  each  denomination 

Let  these  remarks  introduce  the  following  genealogy  of  the 
Reads  and  Carringtons,  who  may  be  regarded  as  common  to  the 
Episcopal  and  Presbyterian  Churches  of  Virginia,  though  more  of 
the  former  belonged  to  the  Presbyterian  and  more  of  the  latter  to 
the  Episcopal.  I  take  them  chiefly  from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Foote's 
Sketches  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

Colonel  Clement  Read  (so  often  mentioned  as  the  active  vestry- 
man in  Brunswick  and  Lunenburg)  was  born  in  the  year  1707.  He 
was  a  trustee  of  William  and  Mary  College  in  1729.  Being  Presi- 
dent of  the  Council  at  the  departure  of  Governor  Gooch  for  Eng- 
land, in  1749,  he  became  Governor  of  the  Colony,  but  died  a  few 
days  after.  He  had  been  educated  at  William  and  Mary  under 
Commissary  Blair.  He  married  the  daughter  of  William  Hill,  an 
officer  in  the  British  navy  and  second  son  of  the  Marquis  of  Lana- 
downe.  Mr.  Read,  having,  with  Colonel  Richard  Randolph,  of 
Curls,  purchased  large  tracts  of  land  in  what  was  then  Lunenburg, 
moved  to  that  county  and  was  clerk  of  the  same  for  many  years. 
He  frequently  served  in  the  House  of  Burgesses  with  the  great 
leaders  of  the  Revolution.  He  died  in  the  year  1763  and  Wius 
buried  at  Bushy  Forest.  His  wife  was  laid  by  his  side  in  1780. 
She  was  (says  Mr.  Foote)  a  pious  woman  and  an  exemplary  member 
of  the  Episcopal  Church.  Their  eldest  son,  Colonel  Isaac  Read, 
married  a  daughter  of  Henry  Embra,  (another  vestryman  of  the 
Lunenburg  Church,)  who  represented  the  county  with  his  father, 
Clement  Read.  He  himself  represented  the  county  with  Paul 
Carrington,  who  married  one  of  his  sisters.  They  were  both  asso- 
ciated with  Washington,  Jefferson,  and  Henry  in  their  patriotic 
movements.  Paul  Carrington  was  a  zealous  friend  of  the  Episcopal 
Church.  What  were  the  partialities  of  Mr.  Isaac  Read,  whether 
he  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  his  father  or  not,  we  are  unable  to 
say.  He  was  made  colonel  in  a  Virginia  regiment,  and  soon  after 
died,  being  laid  with  military  honours  in  a  vault  in  Philadelphia. 
He  left  a  son  by  the  name  of  Clement,  who  became  a  distinguished 
minister  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  after  having  for  a  time  offi- 
ciated among  the  Methodists.  He  married  a  descendant  of  Poca- 
hontas, — a  Miss  Edmonds,  of  Brunswick, — by  whom  he  had  thirteen 
children. 

I  take  from  the  same  source  (Foote's  Sketches)  the  following  no- 
tice of  the  Carrington  family,  whose  members  abound  in  this  part 
of  Virginia.  Mr.  Paul  Carrington  and  his  wife  (who  was  of  the 


FAMILIES  OF   VIRGINIA.  29 

Henninghim  family)  emigrated  from  Ireland  to  Barbadoes,  where 
he  died  early  in  the  eighteenth  century,  leaving  a  widow  and  a 
numerous  family  of  children.  The  youngest  child,  George,  came  to 
Virginia  about  the  year  1727  with  the  family  of  Joseph  Mayo,  a 
Barbadoes  merchant.  Mr.  Mayo  purchased  and  occupied  the  an- 
cient seat  of  Powhatan,  near  the  Falls  of  Jamestown.  Young  Car- 
riiigton  lived  for  some  years  with  Mr.  Mayo  as  his  storekeeper. 
About  1732,  when  in  his  twenty-first  year,  he  married  Anne,  the 
eldest  daughter  of  William  Mayo,  brother  of  Joseph,  who  had 
settled  in  Goochland.  They  went  to  reside  on  Willis's  Creek,  now 
in  Cumberland  county.  They  had  eleven  children, — viz.:  Paul, 
William,  (who  died  in  infancy,)  George,  William  again,  Joseph, 
Nathaniel,  Henningham,  Edward,  Hannah,  (who  married  a  Cabell 
and  was  mother  of  Judge  Cabell,)  Mayo,  Mary,  (who  married  a 
Watkins.)  The  parents,  George  Carrington  and  his  wife,  both  died 
in  1785.  From  them  sprung  the  numerous  families  of  Carringtons 
in  Virginia ;  and  in  the  female  line  the  descendants  have  been 
numerous.  Their  eldest  child,  Paul  Carrington,  married,  as  we 
have  already  said,  the  daughter  of  Colonel  Clement  Read,  of  Lu- 
nenburg, — now  Charlotte, — who  left  a  memory  of  great  virtues. 
Their  children  were  Paul,  Clement,  George,  Mary,  and  Anne.  Her 
youngest  child,  Paul,  became  Judge  of  the  General  Court  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  died  in  1816.  The  elder  Paul  Carrington  was  married 
a  second  time,  to  Miss  Priscilla  Sims.  Two  of  their  children  died 
in  infancy.  The  rest  were  Henry,  Robert,  Letitia,  and  Martha.  A 
very  interesting  account  is  given  of  this,  the  elder  Carrington,  in 
Mr.  Grigsby's  book, — the  Convention  of  1776.  He  was  a  member 
of  that  body,  and  filled  various  departments  of  duty  during  the 
Revolutionary  struggle,  while  furnishing  three  sons  to  the  army, 
two  of  whom  were  eminently  distinguished.  He  was  an  able  lawyer 
in  his  day,  and  after  the  close  of  the  war  was  promoted  to  the 
General  Court,  and  then  to  the  Court  of  Appeals,  where  he  was 
associated  with  his  old  friend,  Edmund  Pendleton,  from  whom  he 
seldom  if  ever  differed  on  all  the  great  questions  which  came  before 
them  during  the  scenes  of  the  Revolution.  Agreeing  with  Pendle- 
ton on  the  subject  of  religion  and  in  attachment  to  the  Episcopal 
Church,  when  the  question  of  the  constitutionality  of  the  law  for 
selling  the  glebes  came  before  the  Court  of  Appeals,  we  find  them 
united  in  giving  their  voice  against  the  law.  Mr.  Grigsby  informs 
us  that  "  in  middle  life,  and  until  the  war  of  the  Revolution  was 
past,  he  was  of  a  grave  turn.  Before  the  troubles  began  he  had 
lost  the  bride  of  his  youth.  During  the  war,  and  when  the  Southern 


30  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

States  were  almost  the  reconquered  Colonies  of  Britain,  lie  was 
never  seen  to  smile.  Day  succeeded  day  in  his  domestic  life,  and 
not  only  was  no  smile  seen  to  play  upon  his  face,  but  hardly  a 
word  fell  from  his  lips.  He  was  almost  overwhelmed  with  the 
calamities  which  assailed  his  country.  But  his  latter  years  were 
cheered  by  its  prosperity  and  glory.  He  died  in  the  eighty-sixth 
year  of  his  age." 

That  some  of  the  descendants  of  such  men  as  Paul  Carrington 
and  Clement  Read,  born  and  living  in  Prince  Edward  and  the 
counties  around,  should  have  forsaken  a  Church  many  of  whose 
ministers  had  forsaken  them  in  times  of  trial,  or  else  proved  most 
unworthy,  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  when  we  remember  the  ministers 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  who  were  sent  into  Virginia,  and  were 
reared  in  it  just  before,  during,  and  after  the  Revolution.  Samuel 
Davies  led  the  way.  The  two  Smiths  were  men  of  superior  abilities. 
Old  David  Rice  was  himself  a  host.  Dr.  Graham,  Dr.  Alexander, 
and  Dr.  Hodge,  following  soon  after,  and  having  the  powerful  influ- 
ence of  a  college  in  their  hands,  could  not  but  make  a  deep  im- 
pression on  the  public  mind  in  all  that  region.  It  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at  that  Episcopalians  should  wish  well  to  the  institution, 
and  that  we  should  find  among  the  trustees  the  names  of  Paul  Car- 
rington, William  Cabell,  Sr.,  James  Madison,  General  Everard 
Meade.  and  others,  who  with  their  families  were  attached  to  the 
Episcopal  Church,  and  so  many  of  whose  descendants  have  con- 
tinued so  to  be.  It  was,  in  opposition  to  some  fears  expressed  at 
the  time,  most  solemnly  pledged  that  it  should  not  be  a  sectarian 
proselyting  institution,  though  the  forms  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
vyould  be  observed  in  it;  and  the  fact  that  Episcopalians  have 
often  been  in  some  measure  concerned,  as  trustees  or  professors,  in 
its  management,  proves  that  the  pledge  has  been  redeemed  as  far 
as  perhaps  is  practicable  in  such  institutions.  The  long  and  pros- 
perous Presidency  over  it  by  the  late  Mr.  Gushing,  whose  memory 
is  held  in  respect  by  all  who  knew  him,  and  who,  although  a  member 
of  the  Episcopal  Church,  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  the  trustees  of 
the  College,  and  the  fact  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Dame,  of  Danville,  and 
Colonel  Smith,  of  Lexington,  with  their  well-known  Episcopal 
attachments,  were  professors  in  the  institution,  are  proofs  that  it 
was  conducted  in  as  catholic  a  spirit  as  circumstances  would  admit 
of.  Whether  in  the  lapse  of  time  any  change  has  taken  place  in  its 
constitution  or  administration,  I  am  unable  to  say. 

The  articles  in  which  the  Presbyterian  Church  has  been  spoken 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  31 

of  having  been  read  by  a  gentleman  well  versed  in  its  history,  he 
has  kindly  sent  me  the  following  letter  :  — 

"  RIGHT  KEV.  AND  DEAR  SIR:  —  I  have  lately  read  your  articles  on 
Lunenburg,  Charlotte,  Halifax,  Prince  Edward,  &c.  with  special  interest, 
as  my  early  years  were  spent  in  the  latter  county,  where  my  maternal  rela- 
tives reside,  and  who  were  connected  with  many  families  in  the  other 


, 

counties  mentioned,  by  blood,  or  affinity,  or  religious  sympathy.  ^ 
papers  embody  much  that  I  have  often  heard,  with  considerable  additions. 
Knowing  that,  while  traversing  this  region,  "Incedis  per  ignes,  suppo- 
sitos  cineri  doloso,"  I  must  needs  be  curious  to  see  how  you  would  bear 
yourself,  and  I  cannot  refrain  from  intimating  my  admiration  of  the  spirit 
in  which  you  have  handled  a  somewhat  difficult  theme.  I  will  even  add 
something  more  in  this  connection,  —  reflections  occasioned  by  your  notices, 
and  which  I  must  beg  you  to  excuse,  if  at  all  trenching  on  propriety. 

"My  mother,  as  you  may  have  heard,  though  firmly  attached  to  her 
own  faith  and  Church,  has  a  sincere,  and,  of  late  years,  growing,  respect 
for  that  over  which  you  preside.  I  read  your  articles  above  mentioned  to 
her,  and  while  she  was  pleased  with  their  spirit,  she  is  ready  to  confirm  most 
of  the  facts,  saying  of  that  concerning  Prince  Edward  in  particular,  l  It 
is  all  true;  and  he  might  have  added  more  in  the  same  strain.' 

"The  decline  of  Episcopacy  in  that  region  was  no  doubt  hastened  by 
the  causes  to  which  you  have  adverted,  —  such  as  the  defection  of  one 
minister,  the  character  of  others,  the  rise  of  Hampden-Sydney  College, 
&c.  $  but  the  falling  off  of  certain  families,  whose  influence  ultimately 
gave  a  caste  to  religious  opinion,  was  prepared  long  before.  Thus,  Anne 
Michaux,  daughter  of  one  of  the  original  refugees,  and  who,  having  fled 
from  France  on  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  settled  at  Manakin, 
married  Richard  Woodson,  Esq.,  of  Poplar  Hill,  Prince  Edward,  some- 
times called  Baron  "Woodson  on  account  of  his  iarge  possessions.  This 
lady,  to  whom  I  referred  in  my  former  letter,  lived  herself  to  a  great  age, 
but  of  a  numerous  offspring  only  two  daughters  survived,  one  of  whom 
was  married  to  Nathaniel  Venable,  son  of  that  Alvan  Venable  whom  you 
have  mentioned  as  one  of  the  vestrymen  of  a  parish  in  Louisa,  —  the  other 
to  Francis  Hopkins,  Esq.,  clerk  of  Prince  Edward.  The  tradition  of  Mrs. 
Woodson's  many  virtues  is  preserved  among  her  numerous  descendants  to 
this  day.  Her  strong  character  and  devoted  piety  appear  to  have  made 
un  indelible  impression  on  such  of  them'  as  had  the  happiness  to  know  her. 
And  this  it  was,  I  believe,  that  gave  them  a  respect  not  only  for  religion 
in  general,  but  a  bias  toward  that  particular  type  of  Protestantism  of  which 
she  was  so  brilliant  an  ornament. 

"Joseph  Morton,  the  ancestor  of  the  most  numerous  branch  of  the 
Mortons,  of  Charlotte,  married  a  sister  of  Richard  Woodson.  The  pro- 
genitor of  the  Mortons  of  Prince  Edward  and  Cumberland  married  a  Mi- 
chaux. Other  families  of  Scots  or  Scotch-Irish  and  Huguenot  race  were 
settled  in  both  counties.  But  the  families  of  Tenable  and  Watkins,  and 
afterward  the  Reads,  of  Charlotte,  did  not  become  thoroughly  Scotched 
until  the  tide  of  Presbytery,  which  had  now  set  in  from  Hanover  through 
Cumberland,  was  met  in  that  county  by  a  corresponding  wave  from  the 
Valley  through  Bedford.  The  rise  of  the  College,  which  was  in  part  tfie 
effect  of  this  movement,  became  the  cause  of  its  increase,  and  this  institu- 
tion, together  with  the  Theological  Seminary,  may  be  said  to  have  com- 


32  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

pletcd  it.  That  the  spiritual  children  of  Calvin  and  Knox  should  have 
formed  an  alliance  under  such  circumstances  was  perhaps  natural.  But 
that  a  portion  of  the  Garringtons  should  more  recently  have  taken  the  same 
direction  may  be  ascribed  in  some  measure  to  the  influence  of  family 
connections. 

"  I  must  say,  however,  that  I  have  never  regarded  eitlier  the  Venables 
or  Watkinses  as  ' bigots  to  Presbytery1  as  such.     And  in  this  connection  it 
would  be  false  delicacy  in  me  to  refrain  from  stating  a  fact  which  wan 
notorious  in  that  county.    The  leading-  mind  in  that  whole  region,  whether 
among  the  clergy  or  laity,  was  that  of  Colonel  Samuel  W.  Venable,  (eldest 
son  of  Colonel  Nathaniel  Venable  above  mentioned,)  and  of  whom  you  will 
find  some  notice  in  the  memoir  of  Dr.  Alexander,  of  Princeton.     Two  of 
his  brothers,  Abraham   and   Richard,  were  known  as  public  characters, 
while  he  remained  in  private  life;  but  they  always  veiled  their  pretensions 
in  his  presence,  partly  from  affection,  but  more  from  deference  to  the 
ascendent  intellect  and  acknowledged  wisdom  of  their  elder  brother,  which 
impressed  all  who  approached  him.     His  early  life,  it  is  believed,  was 
unstained  as  to  morality;  but,  although  an  alumnus  of  Princeton,  ifc  WUH 
not  until  after  the  Revolution  that  he  gave  in  his  adhesion  to  the  religion 
of  his  mother  and  grandmother,  which  had  now  also  become  that  of  his 
wife.    He  had  fought  bravely  in  the  war,  and  was  a  decided  republican  in 
his  political  sentiments.   Would  it  be  too  much  to  suppose  that  his  settled 
hostility  to  the  spirit  of  the  English  Government  had  somewhat  jaundiced 
his  view  of  the  Constitution  of  her  Church  ?     Colonel  V.  was  eminently  a 
practical  man, — a  stern  patriot  and  friend  of  good  order  in  society,  public 
spirited,  and  a  patron  of  all  improvement.    Now,  the  bitter  waters  of  infi- 
delity, which  had  begun  to  appear  in  other  parts  of  the  State,  were  not 
unknown  there,  and  on  the  outbreak  of  the  French  Revolution  society  in 
Virginia  was  menaced  as  it  were  with  a  deluge  of  false  philosophy  and  its 
train  of  evils.    It  was  to  stem  this  tide  that  lie  and  those  who  co-operated 
with  him  set  themselves.      It  was  not  for  a  party  that  he  contended,  but 
for  the  substance  of  Christianity  itself,  which  he  believed  to  be  in  peril. 
As  this  was  essential  to  the  very  existence  of  free  society,  all  other  ques- 
tions were  regarded  as  secondary.     His  numerous  engagements  did  not 
permit  him  to  enter  deeply  into  any  scriptural  investigation  of  the  relative 
claims  of  the  different  forms  of  Church  Government  *  and,  had  ifc  bean 
otherwise,  there  were  few  to  aid  or  sympathize  with  him." 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  83 


ARTICLE  XLIX. 

Parishes  in  Cumberland,  Buckingham,  and  Fluvanna. — St. 

James  Southam,  Cumberland. 

Iisr  1745,  Southam  parish  was  cut  off  from  St.  James  Northam, 
in  Goochland  county,  which  county  then  extended  over  James 
River  and  to  the  Appomattox.  That  on  the  south  side  of  James 
River  was  called  Southam  parish.  Southam  parish  is  now  in  Pow^ 
hatan  county,  which  was  separated  at  a  later  date  from  Cumberland. 

A  vestry-book  of  this  parish,  whose  record  began  in  1745  and 
continued  until  1791,  furnishes  the  following  particulars.  On  June 
30,  1746,  the  Rev.  John  Robertson  enters  upon  his  duties  in  this 
parish,  being  recommended  by  Governor  Grooch  and  Commissary 
Dawson,  having  been  ordained  the  previous  year  by  the  Bishop  of 
London.  He  ceased  to  be  minister  in  1751.  Mr.  McClaurine  is 
then  received  on  probation  for  twelve  months,  and  continues  until 
his  death  in  1772.  Mr.  Jarratt,  in  his  autobiography,  speaks  of 
him  as  a  pious  man.*  The  Rev.  Jesse  Carter,  James  Oglesby,  and 
Hyde  Saunders,  at  the  death  of  Mr.  McClaurine,  became  applicants 
for  the  parish,  each  preaching  some  time.  Mr.  Saunders  is  chosen 
in  November,  1773,  and  continues  so  to  be  until  the  year  1791, 
when  the  record  ends.  In  the  year  1793  he  also  appears  on  the 
journal  of  the  Convention  for  the  first  and  only  time.  Nothing 
more  is  heard  of  the  parish  until  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lee  took  it  under 
his  care  in  connection  with  Goochland  and  Amelia,  in  the  year 
1827,  The  Rev.  Farley  Berkeley,  who  succeeded  Mr.  Lee,  has 
also  connected  a  new  church  at  Genito,  in  Powhatan,  with  the 
church  in  Amelia.  For  the  last  eleven  years  the  Rev.  Mr.  Fisher 
has  been  the  minister  of  Southam  parish,  preaching  at  Emanuel 
and  St.  Luke's  Churches,  each  of  which  have  been  built  since  the 


*  Of  Mr.  McClaurine,  other  favourable  accounts  of  Ms  piety  and  great  benevo- 
lence have  come  to  me.  He  preached  at  TarWallett,  ManaMn,  and  Peterville 
Churches:  beneath  the  chancel-floor  of  the  latter  he  was  buried.  He  was  the  first 
of  his  name  in  Virginia.  He  left  three  sons  and  three  daughters,  two  of  whom 
lived  and  died  in  Cumberland,  and  the  third  at  Norfolk,  during  the  last  war.  Of 
the  daughters,  one  married  a  Hobson,  another  a  Swann,  and  the  third  a  Steger. 
Their  mother  was  a  Miss  Blakely,  from  the  Eastern  Shore  of  Virginia. 

VOL.  II.— 3 


$4  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

commencement  of  his  ministry.  He  has  recently  relinquished  the 
care  of  one  of  them,  which  has  connected  itself  with  a  congregation 
in  Littleton  parish,  Cumberland,  St.  Luke's  being  in  Powhatan, 

THE   CHURCHES  IN  SOUTHAM  PARISH. 

The  first  church  determined  on  was  on  Tear  or  Tar  Wallett  Hill 
The  church  has  long  oeen  called  Tar  Wallett.  It  was  built  on  the 
land  of  Daniel  Coleman,  in  what  is  now  Littleton  parish,  Cumber- 
land. The  next  was  ordered  to  be  on  James  Eiver,  on  Thomas 
Carter's  land.  The  next  to  be  at  or  near  the  reading-place  called 
Worley's.  At  the  same  time  Peterville  Church  is  spoken  of  as 
having  a  reader,  and  another  chapel,  called  Ham,  is  ordered  to  be 
examined.  These  last  were  doubtless  built  before  the  division  of 
the  parish.  Additions  are  made  at  different  times  to  some  of  these 
churches,  as  to  those  of  Tear  Wallett  and  South  Chapel.  Mr. 
Alexander  Trent  is  allowed  to  build  a  gallery  for  his  family.  Ni- 
cholas Davies  and  Carter  Henry  Harrison  are  allowed  to  put  addi- 
tions to  Ham  Chapel  for  their  families.  John  Mayo  and  Benjamiu 
Moseby  are  allowed  to  build  galleries  in  Peterville  Church  for  their 
families. 

The  vestry  appears  to  have  performed  their  duty  in  regard  to  a 
glebe  and  glebe-houses  for  the  ministers,  and  to  have  complied  witk 
a  law  forbidding  a  vestryman  to  be  a  lay  reader,  by  displacing  twc 
who  were  lay  readers,  or  rather  by  accepting  their  resignation 
A  lay  reader  of  disorderly  behaviour  is  also  summoned  to  answer 
to  the  vestry. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  vestrymen : — William  Randolph, 
probably  the  second  of  that  name ;  George  Carrington,  probably 
the  first  of  that  name  who  settled  on  Willis  Creek ;  (these  were 
the  first  churchwardens ;)  Alexander  Trent,  James  Barnes,  James 
Terry,  Benjamin  Harrison,  Charles  Anderson,  Samuel  Scott,  Ste- 
phen Bedford,  Thomas  Turpin,  John  Baskerville,  (in  1748,  in  room 
of  William  Randolph,  removed,)  Benjamin  Harris,  (in  place  of 
Benjamin  Harrison,  resigned,)  Archibald  Cary,  Thomas  Davenport, 
(in  place  of  Archibald  Cary,  removed  in  1750,)  Abraham  Sally, 
William  Barnit,  Creed  Haskins,  Wade  Netherland,  Alexander 
Trent,  Jr.,  John  Fleming,  Thompson  Swann,  Littlebury  Moseby, 
Henry  Macon,  Roderick  Easly,  John  Netherland,  Maurice  Lang 
home,  John  Railey,  George  Carrington,  Jr.,  Edward  Haskins, 
John  Mosely,  John  Hughes,  Edmund  Logwood,  William  Mayo, 
Richard  Crump,  George  Williamson,  William  Ronald,  Edmund 


FAMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA.  35 

Vaughan,  Peter  F.  Archer,  William  Bentley,  Edward  Carrington, 
Brett  Randolph.  The  clerks  or  lay  readers  were  Messrs.  Hubbard, 
Anderson,  Terry,  Turpin,  &c. 

LITTLETON   PARISH,  CUMBERLAND   COUNTY. 

This  was  separated  from  Southam  parish  in  the  year  1771.  Its 
early  history  is  very  brief, — at  least  such  of  it  as  has  corne  down  to 
us.  The  Rev.  Christopher  Macrae  appears  on  our  lists  of  clergy  as 
minister  of  Littleton  parish,  Cumberland,  in  the  years  1773-74-76, 
and  1785  ;  after  which  he  appears  no  more.  In  the  next  year  Mr. 
Mnyo  Carrington  appears  as  the  lay  delegate,  without  any  clerical 
representation.  In  the  year  1790  lie  appears  again  with  the  Rev. 
Elkanah  Talley  as  the  minister.  He  continues  the  minister  for 
Ahree  years,  and  then  removes  to  Ware  parish,  Gloucester.  «In 
1797  the  parish  is  represented  by  two  laymen, — Alexander  Brand 
and  James  Deane.  In  the  year  1799  the  Rev.  James  Dickenson 
and  Mr.  Alexander  Trent  are  in  the  Convention.  There  being  no 
journal,  and  perhaps  no  Convention,  between  1799  and  1805,  and 
none  between  1805  and  1812,  and  having  no  other  means  of  in- 
formation, we  are  unable  to  say  how  long  Mr.  Dickenson  continued 
in  the  parish,  or  whether  he  had  any  successor  until  some  time  after 
the  revival  of  the  Church  commenced.  Still,  there  were  laymen 
there  who,  at  the  first  signs  of  reviving  life,  came  forward  to  de- 
clare their  readiness  to  help  on  the  good  cause.  In  the  first  of 
our  renewed  Conventions — that  of  1812 — Mr.  Codrington  Carring- 
ton is  the  delegate,  and,  in  1813,  Mr.  Samuel  Wilson. 

A  long  interval  again  appears  where  all  seemed  hopeless.  At 
length,  in  1843,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kinckle  takes  charge  of  it  in  con- 
nection with  some  other  of  the  waste  places  around.  He  is  suc- 
ceeded in  1844  by  the  Rev,  Mr.  Bulkley,  who,  after  some  years, 
was  succeeded  in  part  by  the  present  minister,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Mere- 
dith, :vho,  in  connection  with  the  church  in  Buckingham,  serves 
the  congregation  at  Ca-Ira.  Of  the  ministers  yet  alive  it  is  net 
my  purpose  in  these  sketches  to  speak.  Of  those  whom  we  have 
named  as  the  ministers  of  this  parish  before  1800  we  know  nothing, 
either  by  report  or  otherwise,  with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Elkanah 
Talley  and  Mr.  Macrae.  Of  the  former  we  have  spoken  elsewhere 
in  terms  which  it  was  our  regret  to  use.  Of  the  latter  the  testimony 
of  those  who  ought  to  have  known  him  best  is  most  satisfactory.  He 
was  by  birth  and  education  a  Scotchman, — probably  ordained  about 
1765  by  the  Bishop  of  London.  He  was  a  man  of  prayer,  retiring 
from  his  family  three  time?  a  day  for  purposes  of  private  devotion 


35  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

and  study.  He  was  a  Scotchman,  and  not  a  modern  Virginian, 
in  his  notions  and  habits  of  governing  his  children  and  the  boys 
committed  to  his  care,  and  was  therefore  complained  of  as  too 
strict.  He  did  not  enter  with  spirit  into  the  American  Revolution, 
and  was  suspected  of  favouring  the  other  side,  though  he  said  and 
did  nothing,  so  far  as  we  can  learn,  to  give  just  offence.  He  had 
a  right  to  a  conscientious  opinion  on  the  subject ;  but  the  temper 
of  the  times  did  not  allow  this,  and  some  violent  young  men  either 
waylaid  him  at  night  or  took  him  out  of  his  bed,  and  severely 
chastised  him,  leaving  him  naked  in  the  woods.  Tradition  says 
that  he  was  prudent  in  the  affair,  and  never  opened  his  lips  in  the 
way  of  complaint  or  sought  to  find  out  his  nocturnal  and  cowardly 
assailants,  well  knowing  that  it  was  too  good  a  story  to  be  kept 
secret,  and  that  if  he  did  not  they  would  reveal  it.  Accordingly, 
in  due  time,  they  boasted  of  the  deed  and  were  witnesses  against 
themselves.  They  were  summoned  before  a  tribunal  of  justice, 
which  did  not  allow  any  patriotic  feeling  to  prevent  the  punishment 
of  such  an  outrage.  A  heavy  fine  was  accordingly  inflicted  upon 
them.  Patrick  Henry,  who  was  then  in  the  Legislature,  being 
well  acquainted  with  Mr.  Macrae,  took  some  public  occasion  to 
animadvert  upon  the  conduct  of  these  young  men,  and  spoke  in 
the  highest  terms  of  Mr.  Macrae.  The  sons  of  Mr.  Macrae,  I  be- 
lieve, are  all  dead,  but  three  daughters  and  grandchildren  are  yet 
alive,  and  love  the  Church  and  the  religion  of  their  fathers.* 


*  The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  received  from  one  of  the  daughters 
of  Mr.  Macrae : — 

"We  were  young  at  the  time  of  our  father's  death,  and  regret  not  being  able  tc 
give  a  more  satisfactory  history  of  his  life.  He  was  educated  in  Edinburgh,  I  be- 
lieve, at  the  same  college  with  Beattie,  author  of  the  celebrated  Hermit.  They 
were  classmates,  and  corresponded  in  after-life.  A  professorship  was  offered  him 
as  soon  as  he  graduated,  and  he  was  told  all  that  would  be  required  waa  that  ho 
should  sign  his  belief  in  the  Confession  of  Faith.  He  said  he  had  never  read  it,  but 
would  do  so  immediately.  On  perusing  the  volume,  there  wore  portions  he  could 
not  conscientiously  subscribe.  He  therefore  came  to  America,  and  settled  in  Surrey 
county,  Virginia,  where  his  health  failed,  and  during  that  attack  he  became  io. 
terested  on  the  subject  of  religion,  returned  to  England,  and  was  ordained  by  the 
Bishop  of  London ;  came  back  to  Surrey  county,  (where  he  married  Miss  Harris,  in 
1778,  the  daughter  of  Mr.  John  Harris,  one  of  his  vestry,)  where  he  laboured  for 
several  years.  His  own  and  family's  ill  health  determined  him  to  remove  to  Cum- 
berland county,  where  he  preached  for  many  years  at  Tar  Wallott  and  Turkey 
Cock.  During  the  Revolutionary  War  he  was  called  out  to  visit  (the  messenger  said) 
a  dying  neighbour  who  was  anxious  to  see  him.  He  had  not  proceeded  a  milo  from 
home,  when  three  men,  armed  with  clubs,  assailed  and  knocked  him  off  his  horsa, 
The  servant  that  accompanied  him  rode  with  speed  to  friends,  who  came  immediately 
to  his  rescue.  They  left,  supposing  he  would  not  survive.  One  of  the  men  waa 


FAMILIES   OF    VIRGINIA.  37 

I  have  no  record  from  which  to  derive  the  names  of  vestrymen 
or   their  doings  in  this  parish.     I  know  nothing  of  its  former 


killed,  on  that  very  spot,  by  a  tobacco-hogshead,  and  another  revealed  the  whole 
matter  just  before  he  was  hung  for  some  capital  offence.  A  petition  was  sent  to 
the  Legislature,  then  in  session  at  Williamsburg,  praying  that  he,  Mr.  Macrae, 
might  be  banished.  Patrick  Henry  instantly  rose,  and  said  that  there  were  many 
fictitious  names  on  that  paper ;  that  he  knew  Mr.  Macrae  intimately,  and  that  if  he 
was  banished  they  would  lose  one  of  their  best  citizens ;  he  hoped  nothing  would 
be  done  till  he  could  send  an  express  to  Cumberland,  who  returned  with  a  counter- 
petition,  signed  by  the  most  respectable  portion  of  the  community,  praying  that  he 
might  remain  with  them ;  which  was  granted.  Letters  were  put  in  the  pulpit 
threatening  his  life  if  he  ever  dared  to  preach  there  again,  but  he  knew  no  fear 
when  in  the  path  of  duty,  and  never  in  a  single  instance  omitted  going  to  church. 
The  Bev.  Christopher  Macrae  died  at  his  residence  in  Powhatan  county,  on  the  22d 
of  December,  1808,  in  the  seventy-fifth  year  of  his  age.  Dr.  Cameron  preached  his 
funeral  sermon." 

Parson  Buchanon  has  often  lamented  to  us  that  his  brother  Macrae  would  not 
consent  to  be  nominated  as  Bishop.  He  gave  his  advanced  age  as  the  reason  for 
declining. 

We  have  received  an  old  manuscript  sermon  of  Mr.  Macrae,  on  the  death  of 
Colonel  George  Carrington  and  his  lady,  who  died  in  the  year  1785,  within  a  few 
days  of  each  other.  We  have  already  spoken  of  this,  the  first  of  Carringtons  in 
Virginia,  and  of  his  wife  Anna,  daughter  of  Mr.  William  Mayo,  one  of  the  two 
brothers  who  first  came  to  this  country ;  but  it  is  due  to  departed  worth,  and  piety 
to  add  the  following  testimony  from  the  pulpit.  The  text  is  from  the  35th  Psalm, 
37th  verse : — "  Mark  the  perfect  man  and  behold  the  upright,  for  the  end  of  that 
man  is  peace."  The  sermon  itself,  I  am  very  sorry  to  say,  is  too  much  like  those 
so  common  at  that  day,  which,  while  containing  no  heretical  doctrines,  and  some- 
times having  passages  recognising  the  true  ones,  yet  are  of  the  moralizing  rather 
than  of  the  evangelical  cast.  For  instance,  although  in  one  place,  and  in  one  only,  he 
speaks  of  "a  firm  affiance  and  unshaken  confidence  in  the  mercy  of  God  through 
Christ,"  yet  he  often  speaks  in  a  manner  well  calculated  to  encourage  the  belief  that 
virtue  and  integrity  must  be  our  reliance.  He  quotes  from  Pope,  "  The  soul's  calm 
sunshine  and  the  heartfelt  joy  are  virtue's  prize ;"  says  that "  Heaven  is  our  reward  for 
a  well-spent  life ;"  that  "  peace  is  the  result  of  integrity  of  life ;"  that  "  peace  and 
serenity  of  mind  can  only  be  secured  by  a  virtuous  life  ;"  of  the  "reward  due  to 
our  actions."  Now,  I  doubt  not  but  that  some  had  juster  views  of  the  plan  of  salva- 
tion than  the  language  used  by  them  would  seem  to  indicate,  and  that  they  intended 
more  by  virtue,  and  goodness,  and  integrity,  than  is  due  to  such  words ;  but,  after 
all  the  allowance  that  charity  can  make,  we  must  acknowledge  that  there  was  a 
dreadful  deficiency  of  the  Gospel  in  such  preaching,  and  that  sermons  of  that  cast 
would  never  awaken  sinners  to  a  sense  of  their  lost  condition  and  conduct  them  to 
a  Saviour.  With  these  remarks,  which  truth  and  fidelity  require  of  me,  I  proceed 
to  the  close  and  application  of  the  sermon : — 

"  Having  TIOW  done  with  the  text,  give  me  leave  to  observe,  that  though  I  very 
rarely  say  any  thing  concerning  the  character  of  a  departed  friend  [an  honest  ex- 
ample, worthy  of  imitation]  on  any  occasion,  I  thought  it  not  consistent  with  duty 
to  pass  over  the  character  of  persons  so  eminently  distinguishable  for  the  practice 
of  piety  and  virtue,  as  our  worthy  departed  friends,  Colonel  Carrington  and  his 
lady,  without  recommending  their  exemplary  life  as  a  pattern  of  imitation  to  those 


88  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

diurches,  except  that  old  Tar  Wallett  has  long  been  in  the  service 
of  other  denominations.  Two  new  ones,  one  at  Ca-Ira  and  another 
near  Cartersville,  have  been  erected  of  late  years,  and  are  in  con- 
stant use. 

TILLOTSON   PARISH,  BUCKINGHAM   COUNTY. 

These  come  next  in  geographical  order,  although  not  taken  from 
Cumberland  county  and  Littleton  parish. 

At  the  time  that  Albemarle  county  and  St.  Anne's  parish,  in 
the  same,  were  separated  from  Goochland,  they  comprehended  all 
that  is  now  Buckingham,  Pluvanna,  Nelson,  and  Amherst,  as  well 
as  Albemarle.  In  the  year  1757,  Tillotson  parish  was  separated 
from  St.  Anne's  parish,  and,  in  the  year  1761,  the  county  of  Buck- 
ingham was  taken  from  Albemarle. 

We  have  a  list  of  ministers  for  1758, — the  year  after  the  parish 
was  formed, — but  there  is  none  belonging  to  it.  Our  next  list  is 
for  1778,  when  the  Rev.  Mr.  Peasly  is  "minister,  and  continues  to 
be  in  the  years  1774  and  1776.  How  much  longer,  if  at  all,  or 
who,  if  any,  succeeded,  is  not  known,  as  there  are  no  records  until 


who  survive  them.  I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  being  personally  acquainted  with  them 
both  for  more  than  twelve  years  past,  and  can  confidently  affirm  that  they  have  always 
appeared  to  me  to  be  as  punctual  and  exact  in  the  performance  of  the  duties  of  their 
several  stations,  as  it  is  possible  for  persons  clothed  with  flesh  and  blood  to  be. 
And  I  have  reason  to  believe,  from  general  report  and  the  relation  of  their  ac- 
quaintances, that  the  same  uniformity  of  conduct  and  regularity  of  life  had  always 
secured  to  them  an  unexceptionable  good  character  in  the  opinion  of  all  good  men 
of  their  acquaintance ;  of  which  they  have  left  sufficient  proof  in  the  world  in  a 
numerous  offspring,  (eleven  children,)  who  all  behave  themselves  as  children  of 
such  worthy  parents.  They  were  generous  and  charitable  without  ostentation,  and 
religious  without  noise.  The  gentleman  filled  the  chair  of  a  legislator  with  the 
integrity  of  a  Cato,  and  that  of  a  magistrate  with  the  justice  of  an  Aristides.  All 
the  public  offices  which  he  undertook  (and  they  were  many)  he  filled  with  credit 
and  discharged  with  honour.  His  benevolent  disposition  enabled  him  to  serve  the 
public  with  so  much  punctuality  and  exactness,  when  there  was  no  prospect  of  any 
other  reward  but  the  pleasure  of  doing  good,  that  it  is  rare  to  meet  with  an  instance 
of  the  same  kind  in  an  age.  I  have  reason  to  conclude  that  both  our  departed 
friends  had  many  friends,  and  no  foes — if  any — but  such  as  a  good  man  would  be 
ashamed  to  number  among  his  friends.  They  had  as  many  virtues  and  an  few  fail- 
ings as  we  can  expect  to  meet  with  in  any  of  Adam's  fallen  race ;  and,  in  short,  I 
know  not  whether  I  ever  knew  two  characters  more  perfect  that  were  heads  of  the 
same  family.  It  is  certain  they  were  both  an  ornament  to  human  nature,  an 
honour  to  their  country,  and  a  blessing  to  their  neighbourhood.  Time  would  fail  me 
to  erumerate  their  good  qualities :  suffice  it,  therefore,  to  observe  that  their  lives 
were  truly  exemplary,  and  that  it  is  our  duty  to  imitate  their  virtues,  that  we  may 
after  death  partake  of  their  felicity,  which,  I  firmly  hope,  they  do  now,  and  ever 
will  enjoy  through  the  endless  ages  of  eternity,'" 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  3& 

1785, — nine  years  after.  JSTo  delegation  then  appears,  and  the 
name  of  Tillotson  disappears  from  the  journal  until  the  year  1830, 
when  the  Rev.  Mr.  Osgood,  minister  of  Moore  parish,  Campbell 
county,  reports  some  services  in  it.  In  the  year  1833,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Swift  was  there.  In  the  year  1838,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gofer, — how 
long  before  or  after  we  have  not  the  present  means  of  ascertaining. 
In  the  year  1845,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Meredith  appears  as  its  minister, 
and  has  continued  so  to  the  present  time.  A  new  church  has  been 
erected  in  this  parish,  which  now  stands  at  Ourdsville,  having  been 
originally  placed  a  few  miles  from  its  present  site,  but  recently 
removed  to  its  present  more  convenient  position. 

No  vestry-book  remains  to  furnish  the  names  of  the  old  vestry- 
men and  families  of  this  parish. 

There  were  two  old  churches  in  Buckingham.  At  one  of  them, 
called  Goodwin,  near  the  court-house,  we  have  officiated.  The 
locality  of  the  other  we  cannot  specify,  but  think  that  it  was 
somewhere  near  the  Methodist  Female  College. 


PARISH   OF   FLUVANNA,    IN   FLTJVANNA   COUNTY. 

These  were  separated  at  the  same  time  by  an  Act  of  Assembly, 
in  1777,  from  Albemarle  county  and  St.  Anne's  parish.  Just 
entering  on  the  war,  during  which  little  or  nothing  was  done,  even 
in  the  old  parishes,  it  is  doubtful  whether  a  vestry  was  elected  or 
any  steps  taken  toward  building  a  church.  At  any  rate,  there  is 
no  record  of  it.  The  following  extract,  from  the  letter  of  a  friend 
to  whom  I  applied  for  information,  tells  nearly  all  that  is  known 
of  this  parish : — 

"Our  annals  do  not  go  far  back.  From  1835  to  1849  we  were  con- 
nected with  St.  James  parish,  Goochland.  At  the  Convention  of  1849 
we  were  admitted  into  union  with  it,  as  Kivanna  parish.*  Our  first  minis- 
ter was  the  Rev.  Mr.  Pleasants  in  1835,  and,  I  think,  the  first  who  ever 
preached  statedly  in  the  county.  He  only  remained  about  three  months. 
The  next  was  the  Rev.  Mr.  Doughen,  who  remained  less  than  two  years. 
He  was  followed  by  the  Rev.  J.  P.  B.  Wilmer  in  1838  and  1839.  He 
was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  R.  H.  Wilmer  in  April,  1839,  who  continued 
until  the  fall  of  1S43.  The  Rev.  J.  P.  B.  Wilmer  returned  to  the  parish 
and  continued  until  Easter,  1849.  After  our  separation  from  Qooohland. 
the  Rev.  Lewis  P.  Clover  was  with  us  from  October,  1850,  to  April,  1852. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Eulkley  succeeded  him,  and  was  with  us  from  July,  1852, 
to  December,  1855.  The  only  Episcopal  Church  which  has  ever  been  in 

*  The  name  given  it  by  Act  of  Assembly,  in  1777,  was  Fluvanna  parish.  Per* 
hap?  this  fact  was  not  known  or  taught  of  at  the  time  of  its  new  name 


40  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

the  county  is  St.  John's,  Columbia,  which  was  consecrated  on  the  80th 
of  July,  1850.  The  only  Episcopal  families  prior  to  1885  were  the  Carys 
and  General  Cocke's. 

Since  that  time  the  two  Mr.  Gralts,  Mr.  Archy  Harrison's,  Mr. 
Bryant's,  Mr.  Brent's,  and  a  goodly  number  of  other  families, 
been  added. 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  4] 


ARTICLE  L. 

FrederictoviUe  and  Trinity  Parishes.,  in  Louisa  and  Albemark 

Counties. 

AFTER  the  separation  of  Louisa  county  from  Hanover,  in  the 
year  1742,  and  of  Fredericks ville  parish,  Louisa,  from  St.  Martin's, 
Hanover,  the  parish  of  Fredericksville  was  enlarged  by  taking  in 
a  part  of  Albemarle  lying  north  and  west  of  the  Kivanna.  After 
some  years  Fredericksville  parish  was  divided  into  Fredericksville 
and  Trinity,  the  former  being  in  Albemarle  and  the  latter  in  Louisa, 
We  first  treat  of  it  in  its  enlarged  and  undivided  state.  It  was  then 
without  a  place  of  worship,  except  an  old  mountain-chapel  (age  not 
known)  where  Walker's  Church  afterward  stood.  The  first  meeting 
of  the  vestry  was  in  1742,  The  vestry-book  has  some  documents 
worthy  of  introduction  as  historical  antiquities.  They  were  the 
tests  required  of  vestrymen  at  that  period  of  England's  history: — 

"  I.   Oath  of  Allegiance. 

"I,  A. B.,  do  sincerely  promise  and  swear  that  I  will  be  faithfdl  and 
bear  true  allegiance  to  his  Majesty  King  George  the  Second,  so  help  me 
God. 

"  Oath  of  Abjuration. 

"  I,  A.  B.,  do  swear  that  I  do  from  my  heart  abhor,  detest,  and  abjure, 
as  impious  and  heretical,  that  damnable  doctrine  and  position  that  Princes 
excommunicate  or  deprived  by  the  Pope,  or  any  authority  of  the  See  of 
Home,  may  be  deposed  or  murdered  by  their  subjects  or  any  other  what- 
soever. And  I  do  declare  that  no  foreign  Prince,  Prelate,  Person,  State, 
or  Potentate,  hath,  or  ought  to  have,  any  jurisdiction,  power,  superiority, 
pre-eminence,  or  authority,  ecclesiastical  or  spiritual,  within  this  realm. 
So  help  me  God. 

"II.   Oath  of  Allegiance. 

"  I,  A.  B.,  do  truly  and  sincerely  acknowledge  and  promise,  testify  and 
declare,  in  my  conscience,  before  God  and  the  world,  that  our  sovereign 
Lord,  King  George  the  Second,  is  lawful  and  rightful  King  of  this  realm 
and  all  other  his  Majesty's  dominions  and  countries  hereunto  belonging; 
and  I  do  solemnly  and  sincerely  declare  that  I  do  believe  in  my  conscience 
that  the  person  pretended  tc  be  Prince  of  Wales  during  the  life  of  the  late 
King  James,  and  since  his  decease  pretending  to  be,  and  taking  upon 
himself  the  style  and  title  of,  the  King  of  England,  or  by  the  name  of 
7ames  the  Third,  or  of  Scotland  by  the  name  of  James  the  Eighth,  or  the 


4"2  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

style  and  title  of  King  of  Great  Britain,  hath  not  any  right  whatsoever  to 
the  crown  of  this  realm,  or  any  other  dominions  hereto  belonging.  And 
I  do  renounce,  refuse,  and  abjure  any  allegiance  or  obedience  to  him,  and 
I  do  swear  that  I  will  bear  faithful  and  true  allegiance  to  his  Majesty 
King  George  the  Second,  and  him  will  defend  to  the  utmost  of  my  power 
against  all  traitorous  conspiracies  and  attempts  whatsoever  which  shall  be 
made  against  his  person,  crown,  or  dignity;  and  I  will  do  my  utmost  to 
endeavour  to  disclose  and  make  known  to  his  Majesty  and  his  successors 
all  treasonable  and  traitorous  conspiracies  which  I  shall  know  to  be  against 
him,  or  any  of  them;  and  I  do  faithfully  promise  to  the  utmost  of  my 
power  to  support,  maintain,  and  defend  the  successor  of  the  crown  against 
him,  the  said  James,  and  all  other  persons  whatsoever,  which  succession, 
by  an  Act  entitled  '  An  Act  for  the  further  limitation  of  the  crown  and 
better  securing  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  subjects/  is,  and  stands 
limited  to,  the  Princess  Sophia,  late  Eleotress  and  Duchess-Dowager  of 
Hanover,  and  the  heirs  of  her  body,  being  Protestants;  and  all  other  these 
things  I  do  plainly  and  sincerely  acknowledge  and  swear,  according  to 
these  express  words  by  me  spoken,  and  according  to  the  plain  and  common- 
sense  understanding  of  the  same  words,  without  any  equivocation,  mental 
evasion,  or  secret  reservation  whatsoever;  and  I  do  make  this  recognition, 
acknowledgment,  abjuration,  renunciation,  and  promise,  heartily,  willingly, 
and  truly,  upon  the  true  faith  of  a  Christian,  so  help  me  God. 

"  THOMAS  PAULETT,       EGBERT  LEWIS, 
"  A.  I.  SMITH;  CHARLES  BARRETT, 

"  DAVID  COSBY,  JOHN  POINDEXTER, 

"  THOMAS  B.  SMITH,       ABRM.  VENABLE, 
"  ROGER  THOMPSON,       BPHM.  CLARK, 
"  T.  MERIWETHER,         JOHN  STARK. 

"Test-Oath. 

"  I  do  declare  that  I  do  believe  that  there  is  not  any  transubstantiation 
in  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  or  in  the  Elements  of  bread  and 
wine  at  or  after  the  consecration  thereof  by  any  person  whatsoever." 

Prom  the  foregoing  it  is  evident  that  the  apprehension  of  Popery 
and  the  success  of  the  Pretender  was  quite  strong,  and  that  the 
English.  Okurch.  and  Government  endeavoured,  not  only  at  home, 
but  in  the  Colonies,  through  her  officers,  to  guard  most  effectually 
against  both. 

Those  who  signed  the  above  tests  were  the  first  vestrymen  after 
the  organization  of  the  parish  in  1742.  The  following  were  added 
«*v  different  times  until  the  division  of  the  parish  in  1702 : — Thomas 
Walker,  John  Meriwether,  Nicholas  Meriwether,  David  Mills, 
Robert  Harris,  Robert  Anderson,  Tyree  or  Tyrce  Harris,  William 
Johnson,  John  Harvie,  Thomas  Johnson, 

After  the  division,  a  new  vestry  was  elected  from  Fredericks ville 
parish.  Some  of  the  old  ones  continued,  and  others  were  added,  as 
Moriaa  Jones,  Isaac  Davis,  Thomas  Caw,  William  Barksdale,  John 
Foster,  Hezekiah  Rice,  Robert  Clark,  Nicholas  Lewis,  and  at  differ- 


*  A  MI  LIES    OF    VIRGINIA.  43 

ent  times  afterward  John  Walker,  Henry  Fry,  Thomas  Jefferson,* 
William  Tims,  John  Rodes,  John  Harvie,  Mordecai  Ford,  Isaac 
Davis,  James  Quarles,  William  Dalton,  Dr.  George  Gilmer,  David 
Hooks,  James  Marks,  Thomas  Walker,  Jr.,  Robert  Michie,  James 
Minor,  Peter  Clarkson,  William  Michie,  Reuben  Tinsley,  Francis 
Walker,  George  Nicholas,  Joseph  Tunstall,  William  D.  Meriwether. 
The  last  election  of  vestrymen  was  in  1787 ;  and  the  last  act  r>i  - 
corded  in  the  vestry-books  was  the  election  of  Mr.  John  Walker  as 
lay  delegate  to  the  Convention  of  that  year. 

Having  thus  drawn  from  our  record  all  that  relates  to  the  vestry- 
men, we  will  return  and  gather  up  whatever  else  is  worthy  of  notice. 

There  being  no  churches  in  the  parish,  the  services  were  held  at 
Louisa  Court- House  and  at  various  private  houses  at  different  points 
in  the  county.  These  were  performed  by  lay  readers  on  Sundays, 
and  for  some  years  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Barrett,  from  Hanover,  twenty- 
four  times  in  the  year  during  the  days  of  labour,  three  hundred  and 
twenty  pounds  of  tobacco  being  paid  for  each  sermon.  In  the  year 
1745  it  was  determined  to  build  three  frame  churches,  one  in  some 
central  place  in  Louisa  county,  called  the  Lower  Church,  and  some- 
times Trinity  Church ;  another  in  Albemarle,  called  Middle  Church, 
and  which  was  doubtless  the  same  with  Walker's  Church;  and  the 
third  between  the  mountains  on  the  Buckniountain  Road,  which  is 
doubtless  the  same  with  that  now  called  Buckmountain  Church., 
Each  of  these  was  built  at  different  times  during  the  few  following 
years.  In  the  year  1763  another  church  was  resolved  on  nearer 
to  Orange, — whether  built  or  not  I  cannot  say.  In  the  year  1747 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Arnold  was  chosen  for  one  year,  and  continued  until 
his  death,  in  1754,  when  his  funeral  was  preached  by  Mr.  Barrett. 


*  Mr.  Jefferson,  then  living  at  Shadwell  Mills,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Bivanna, 
was  in  Fredericksville  parish,  and  appears  to  have  been  an  active  vestryman  for 
some  years.  Himself  and  Nicholas  Meriwether  were  ordered  to  lay  off  xwo  acres 
of  land  including  a  space  around  Walker's  Church,— land  given  by  Mr.  Walker, 

Of  the  Walkers,  four  of  whom  appear  repeatedly  on  the  vestry-book,  I  have  only 
been  able  to  obtain  the  following  notices.  Dr.  Thomas  Walker  is  believed  to  have 
been  the  first  discoverer  of  Kentucky  in  1750.  In  1755  he  was  with  Washington 
at  Braddock's  defeat.  In  1775  he  was  one  of  the  committee  of  safety  appointed 
by  the  Convention  of  1775  on  the  breaking  out  of  the  troubles  with  England.  He 
was  also  repeatedly  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly. 

Colonel  John  Walker,  his  eldest  son,  was  for  a  short  time  aid  to  General  Washing- 
ton during  the  war.  He  was  also  for  a  short  time  a  member  of  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States.  Colonel  Francis  Walker,  the  youngest  son,  was  repeatedly  member 
of  the  State  Legislature,  and  represented  the  counties  of  Albemarle  and  Grange  ID 
Congress  from  1791  to  1795. 


44  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

A  Kev.  Mr.  Beckett  then  performed  some  services  in  the  parish,  as 
also  the  Rer.  James  Maury,  who  became  the  minister  in  the  same 
year,  and  who  married  a  Miss  Walker.  Soon  after  he  settled  in 
the  parish  a  good  glebe  of  four  hundred  acres  was  purchased  for 
him,  near  Captain  Linsey's,  and  a  parsonage  built,  which,  with  the 
outhouses  and  other  improvements,  seem  during  his  life  to  have 
been  well  attended  to  by  the  vestry.  In  the  year  1763  the  parish 
was  divided  into  Trinity,  in  Louisa,  and  Fredericksville,  in  Albe- 
marle.  Of  Trinity  we  now  lose  sight  altogether,  I  fear,  as  I  know 
of  no  source  from  which  to  obtain  information.  By  an  Act  of  the 
Legislature  the  vestry  of  Predericksville  was  ordered  to  pay  two 
hundred  pounds— half  the  price  of  their  glebe— to  the  new  vestry 
of  Trinity  for  the  purchase  of  a  glebe. 

The  Eev.  James  Maury  continued  until  his  death,  in  1770,  to 
officiate  in  this  parish.  Of  him  and  his  Huguenot  ancestors  I  have 
written  in  my  article  on  Manakintown, — of  him  particularly  in  my 
notices  of  the  Option  Law,  or  Two-Penny  Act,  and  in  my  remarks 
on  toleration.  He  was  a  very  deserving  man.  He  was  succeeded 
by  his  son,  Matthew  Maury,  who  was  ordained  the  preceding  year. 
Mr.  Matthew  Maury  continued  to  be  the  minister  of  the  parish 
until  his  death,  in  1808,  though  his  name  does  not  appear  on  the 
vestry-book  as  receiving  a  salary  after  the  year  1777.  Prom  that 
time  forward  he  received  little  or  nothing  for  his  services  as  a 
minister.  He  retained  the  glebe  for  the  benefit  of  his  mother  and 
family,  who  lived  on  it,  while  he  taught  school  on  an  adjoining  farm, 
and  educated  a  large  number  of  the  citizens  of  Virginia.  He  lived 
very  near  to,  and  on  the  most  intimate  terms  with,  the  old  blind 
preacher,  Mr.  Waddell,  who  officiated  at  the  death  of  his  wife,  there 
being  no  Episcopal  minister  at  that  time  in  any  of  the  surrounding 
counties,  and  but  few  in  the  State.* 

*  The  Kev.  James  Maury,  father  of  Matthew  Maury,  had  twelve  children, — Mat- 
thew, James,  Walker,  Abraham,  Benjamin,  Richard,  Fontaine,  Ann,  Mrs.  Strahan, 
Mrs.  Barrett,  Mrs.  Lewis,  Mrs.  Eggleston,  His  son  James  was  the  old  consul  at 
Liverpool,  filling  that  station  for  forty-five  years,  and  leaving  five  children.  His  eon 
Matthewraised  ten  children,— Matthew,  Thomas  Walker,  Francis,  Fontaine,  Reuben, 
John,  Mrs.  Miehie,  Mrs.  Fry,  Mrs.  Lightfoot,  Elizabeth  Walker.  His  son  Walker 
was  a  teacher  of  youth  in  Williamsburg,  Norfolk,  and  Albemarle,  also  a  minister 
in  Norfolk  for  a  short  time.  His  children  were  James,  William,  Leonard,  Mrs. 
Kite,  Mrs.  Hay,  and  Mrs.  Polk.  Space,  if  not  time,  would  fail  us,  even  if  we  had 
the  information,  to  mention  the  names  of  all  the  descendants  of  the  old  patriarch, 
the  Rev.  James  Maury.  They  are  scattered  all  over  our  land,  and  are  to  be  found 
in  various  professions  One  of  them  is  a  worthy  minister  of  our  Church  in  Ken- 
tucky, while  two  are  married  to  worthy  clergymen, — the  Rev.  Mr.  Berkeley,  cf 
Lexington,  Kentucky,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Nash,  of  Ohio.  Another  descendant  presides 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  i5 

Before  we  make  our  brief  mention  of  the  ministers  of  this  parish, 
since  the  revival  of  the  Church  during  the  present  century,  a  few 
words  are  due  to  the  two  old  churches  at  Walker's  and  Buckmoun- 
tain,  which  we  have  said  were  determined  upon  in  the  year  1745, 
and  built  within  a  year  or  two  afterward.  Old  Walker's  Church, 
built  upon  the  site  of  a  still  older  and  ruder  house,  stood  on  the 
side  of  the  road  from  Orange  Court-House  to  Charlottesville,  at  the 
end  of  a  noble  avenue  of  oaks — now  no  more — leading  down  to  Mr. 
Walker's  old  seat,  Belvoir, — itself  no  more,  having  been  consumed 
by  fire,  but  for  a  long  time  the  seat  of  hospitality,  especially 
to  ministers  and  persons  coming  to  church  from  a  distance.  The 
church  being  of  wood — a  framed  one — of  course  must  decay  much 
sooner  than  one  of  more  solid  material. 

In  the  year  1827,  when  Judge  Hugh  Nelson,  Mr.  William  0. 
Rives,  and  Dr.  Page,  occupied  their  old  seats,  (having  married  into 
the  families  of  the  Walkers,)  and  the  descendants  of  other  old 
families  were  still  around,  the  duty  of  repairing  it  was  felt.  But 
the  vestry  not  being  able,  as  of  old,  to  order  a  levy  of  tobacco  for 
building  and  repairing  churches,  it  was  not  so  easy  to  accomplish 
the  work.  One  of  the  females  of  the  parish  on  that  occasion  made 
the  following  very  interesting  appeal.  It  is  believed  to  be  from  the 
pen  of  one  who  has  since  taken  so  active  a  part  in  procuring  the 
new  one  which  has  recently  been  erected.* 

THE  CHURCH'S  PETITION. 

"Ye  friends  and  kind  neighbours,  in  pity  draw  near, 

And  attend  to  my  sorrrowful  tale ; 
Should  you  grant  me  but  misery's  portion, — a  tear, — 
To  my  grief-burden*  d  heart  will  that  tribute  be  dear. 

While  I  my  misfortunes  bewail. 

"Stern  winter  is  o'er,  nor  his  sway  will  resume, 

Though  sullen  and  scowling  he  flies ; 
Soft  May  greets  us  now,  with  her  beauty  and  bloeni, 
And  her  whispering  airs,  breathing  varied  perfume, 

Bear  her  incense  of  flowers  to  the  skies. 

"  Ail  nature  is  lovely  and  verdant  around ; 

New  charms  to  creation  are  given, — 
From  the  modest  wild  violet  that  droopa  on  the  gr^u>d, 
To  the  oak  in  the  forest  with  majesty  crown'rl 
And  proudly  arising  to  heaven. 

over  a  National  Institute  at  Washington,  and  by  his  learning,  zeal,  and  great  dis- 
coveries, is  conferring  benefits  on  the  whole  human  race,  rendering  the  ocean  almost 
as  safe  as  the  dry  land. 
*  Mrs.  W.  C  Rives. 


46  OLD    CBUBCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

**But.  alas!  not  to  me  does  the  season  return. 
With  reviving  and  soul-breathing  powers . 
Wnile  all  nature  around  me  is  smiling,  1  mourn 
My  glory  departed,  my  aspect  forlorn, 
Contrasted  with  freshness  and  flowers. 

"  Through  my  windows  dismantled  and  dreary  ab  *upt  t 

The  wild  birds  in  my  court  seek  their  rest ! 
The  owl  an  1  the  bat  wheel  their  ominous  flight 
O'er  my  altar  once  hallo w'd  by  heaven's  own  light, 
And  there  is  the  swallow's  rude  nest. 

*'  Then  pity,  kind  friends,  and  your  timely  aid  lend, 

Or  soon  I  shall  sink  to  decay ; 
*  Build  up  the  waste  places,'  your  Zion  befriend, 
And  gently  on  you  shall  my  blessing  descend. 
Oh,  let  me  not  moulder  away ! 

"Should  this  world  e'er  forsake  you,  your  friends  become  foes, 
While  a  wreck,  tempest-tost,  you  are  driven, 

Then  fly  to  my  arms,  on  my  bosom  repose ; 

I  can  dry  every  tear,  I  can  soften  your  woes, 
And  lead  you  triumphant  to  heaven." 

The  result  of  this  poetic  appeal,  in  co-operation  with  other  meanj, 
was  the  raising  a  sufficient  sum  for  the  repairs  of  the  church.  Bur, 
time  still  going  on  with  its  ravages,  it  was  felt  that  a  new  and  more 
durable  one  should  be  had.  A  gentleman,  some  years  since,  theu 
in  prosperous  circumstances,  promised  several  thousand  dollais 
toward  the  erection  of  a  new  one,  though  by  adversity  he  was  dis- 
abled from  the  full  performance  of  his  promise.  This  stimulated 
the  desire  for  a  more  expensive  building  than  would  otherwise  have 
been  attempted.  It  was  commenced  under  the  auspices  of  one 
family,*  although  the  people  around,  during  its  progress,  contri- 
buted about  five  thousand  dollars  to  it.  False  calculations  were  made 
as  to  the  expense  of  the  style  and  manner  of  its  execution,  which 
caused  great  delay  in  the  work,  and  led  to  various  efforts  and  soli- 
citations in  Virginia  and  elsewhere  in  order  to  raise  the  needful 
amount.  Could  all  the  disappointments  and  miscalculations  and 
costs  have  been  foreseen,  it  would  have  been  improper  to  have 
attempted  such  a  building,  as  a  much  cheaper  one  would  have 
answered  all  the  needs  of  the  neighbourhood.  But  it  was  at  length 
completed,  and  is  in  its  exterior  appearance  a  most  beautiful  build- 
ing, without  any  thing  gaudy  about  it,  while  the  materials  and 
manner  of  its  execution  give  the  promise  of  its  long  continuance. 

As  to  Old  Buckmountain  Church,  at  the  time  that  measures  were 

*  The  family  of  the  Hon.  W.  C.  Rives,  of  Castle  Hill 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  ±1 

commenced  for  the  resuscitation  of  our  Zion  in  Virginia,  it  Lad 
been  so  long  in  the  use  of  some  other  denomination  that  it  was 
claimed,  not  merely  by  right  of  possession,  but  on  the  ground  of 
having  been  repaired.  It  will  amuse  the  reader  to  learn  the  kind 
and  the  amount  of  repairs  on  which  this  claim  was  grounded.  When 
I  first  saw  it,  more  than  thirty  years  ago,  it  was — though  said  to 
be  repaired — a  mere  shell,  with  many  an  opening  in  the  clapboard 
walls,  through  which  the  wind  might  freely  pass.  The  inward  re- 
pairs consisted  in  removing  the  old  pews  into  the  gallery,  where 
they  were  piled  up,  and  in  their  room  putting  benches  made  of  the 
outside  slabs  from  the  sawmill,  with  legs  as  rude  thrust  through 
them,  and  of  course  no  backs.  The  old  pulpit  was  left  standing, 
but  by  its  side  was  a  platform  made  by  laying  a  few  planks  across 
the  backs  of  two  pews,  which  the  preacher  preferred  to  the  old- 
fashioned  pulpit.  A  few  years  after  the  revival  of  our  Church 
began,  the  Episcopalians  around,  not  thinking  that  either  these 
repairs  or  the  occasional  occupancy  of  the  building  had  deprived 
•them  of  their  right,  put  in  their  claim,  which,  though  stoutly  re- 
sisted by  some,  being  as  stoutly  insisted  on  by  others,  was  finally 
admitted,  and  the  old  church,  being  much  better  repaired  than 
before,  has  ever  since  been  in  our  possession  and  use, 

As  to  the  ministers  who  have  officiated  in  Fredericksville  parish 
since  the  revival  of  the  Church,  we  have  but  little  to  say.  The 
Rev.  Mr.  Bausman  took  charge  of  it  in  1818,  and  remained  less 
than  one  year.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Hatch  succeeded  him  in  1820  and 
continued  until  1830.  He  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Zachariah 
Mead,  who  continued  three  or  four  years,  and,  as  did  Mr.  Hatch, 
served  the  whole  county.  From  1833  to  the  fall  of  1838,  the  Rev. 
W-  Gr.  Jones,  from  Orange,  officiated  at  Walker's  Church.  In  the 
year  1839  the  present  minister,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Boyden,  took  charge 
of  the  parish,  and  for  some  years  ministered  also  to  the  congrega- 
tion on  the  Green  Mountain.  The  church  on  Buckmountaiu  has 
for  many  years  been -served  in  conjunction  with  other  congregations, 
which  will  be  mentioned  when  we  speak  in  our  next  article  of  St. 
Anne's  parish. 


IP  OLD  CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 


ARTICLE  LI. 

St.  Anne's  Parish,  Albemarle  County. 

IN  the  year  1761,  Albemarle,  besides  its  present  territory,  em- 
braced all  of  Fluvanna,  Buckingham,  Nelson,  and  Amherst.  By 
various  Acts  between  that  time  and  1777,  it  was  reduced  to  its  pre- 
sent dimensions.  St.  Anne's  parish  covered  the  whole  of  this  region 
at  its  first  organization  in  1742,  and  by  successive  Acts  was  reduced 
to  the  same  dimensions  with  the  present  county  of  Albemarle,  with 
the  exception  of  that  part  which  forms  Fredericksville  parish.  The 
dividing-line,  after  running  some  distance  along  the  Rivanna,  crosses 
the  same  and  passes  through  Oharlottesville.  Of  late  years  some 
other  parishes  have  been  formed  within  St.  Anne's  parish,  as  that  on 
Green  Mountain,  <fec.  Our  first  knowledge  of  any  churches  in 
that  part  of  St.  Anne's  parish  now  in  Albemarle,  as  at  present 
bounded,  is  of  two  which  began  about  the  year  1746  or  1747,  under 
the  direction  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Rose,  who  moved  from  Essex  to 
what  is  now  Amherst,  and  extended  his  labours,  during  a  short  period, 
to  that  part  of  Albemarle  called  the  Green  Mountain,  where  were 
built  Ballenger's  Church,  not  very  far  from  Warren,  and  the  Forge 
Church,  not  far  from  Mr.  John  Cole's,  the  ancestor  of  those  now 
bearing  that  name,  and  who  appears  from  the  vestry-book  in  my 
possession  to  have  been  the  most  active  member  of  the  vestry,  until 
the  year  1785,  when  the  record  closes.  After  Mr.  Rose's  death,  in 
1751,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Camp  probably  succeeded  to  all  his  churches. 
He  lived  in  the  neighbourhood  of  New  Glasgow.  The  old  glebe- 
house  is  still  to  be  seen  on  the  land  of  Dr.  Hite,  near  the  road- 
side. He  moved  with  his  family  to  the  West  just  before  the  Re- 
volution, and  it  is  said  was  murdered  by  the  Indians  near  the 
fort  of  Vincennes  on  the  Wabash.  Previously  to  this  the  Rev, 
Mr.  Ramsay  had  settled  in  Albemarle  and  become  the  minister  of 
St.  Anne's  parish  with  its  reduced  dimensions.  He  is  represented 
as  a  very  unacceptable  minister.  The  Rev.  Charles  Clay  fol- 
lowed him.  He  was  near  relative  of  our  statesman,  Mr.  Henry 
Clay, — probably  first-cousin, — and  inherited  no  little  of  his  talents 
and  decision  of  character.  He  was  ordained  by  the  Bishop  of  Lon- 
ion  in  1769,  and  on  22d  October  of  the  same  year  was  received  as 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  49 

minister  of  St.  Anne's  parish.  The  vestry-book  opens  in  1772  and 
closes  in  1785,  during  all  of  which  time,  as  well  as  the  three  preced- 
ing years,  Mr.  Clay  was  the  minister,  living  at  the  glebe,  somewhere 
in  the  Green  Mountain  neighbourhood,  and  preaching  at  the  two 
churches, — Ballenger  and  The  Forge, — and  sometimes  at  the  court- 
house, and  at  various  private  houses  in  Albemarle ;  also,  at  the 
Barracks  during  the  war,  which  was  probably  the  place  where  the 
British  prisoners  under  General  Philips  were  kept,  first  by  Colonel 
Bland,  and  afterward  by  General  Wood.  He  also  preached  in 
Amherst  and  Chesterfield  occasionally.  The  places  of  his  preach- 
ing I  ascertain  from  the  notes  on  a  number  of  his  sermons,  which 
have  been  submitted  to  my  perusal.  The  sermons  are  sound,  ener- 
getic, and  evangelical  beyond  the  character  of  the  times.  One  of 
them,  on  the  new  birth,  is  mos*;  impressive  and  experimental.  Another 
on  the  atonement,  for  Christmas -day,  is  very  excellent  as  to  doc- 
trine, and  concludes  with  a  faithful  warning  against  the  profa- 
nation of  that  day  by  "  fiddling,  dancing,  drinking,  and  such  like 
things,7'  which  he  said  were  so  common  among  them. 

In  the  year  1777,  on  the  public  fast-day,  he  preached  a  sermon 
to  the  minute-company  at  Charlottesville,  in  which  his  patriotic 
spirit  was  displayed.  "  Cursed  be  he  (in  the  course  of  his  sermon 
he  said)  who  keepeth  back  his  sword  from  blood  in  this  war."  He 
declared  that  the  "  cause  of  liberty  was  the  cause  of  God," — calls 
upon  them  to  "  plead  the  cause  of  their  country  before  the  Lord 
with  their  blood."  And  yet  he  said,  "  There  might  be  some  present 
who  would  rather  bow  their  necks  to  the  most  abject  slavery,  than 
face  a  man  in  arms."  It  was  at  this  time  and  under  these  circum- 
stances that  he  became  acquainted  with  Mr.  Jefferson,  who,  having 
removed  into  this  parish  from  Fredericksville,  was  now  elected  to 
the  vestry  of  St.  Anne's,  though  it  does  not  appear  that  he  ever 
acted.  This  intimacy  was  kept  up  until  his  death  in  Bedford  county, 
in  the  year  1824,  where  he  and  Mr.  Jefferson  each  had  farms,  and 
where,  during  the  visits  of  the  latter,  there  was  much  friendly  in- 
tercourse. During  the  latter  years  of  his  ministry  in  St.  Anne's 
parish,  the  connection  of  Mr.  Clay  with  his  vestry  was  very  un- 
happy. The  salary  of  one  year  was  the  occasion  of  it.  There  ap- 
pears to  have  been  some  division  in  the  vestry  about  it.  The  ma- 
jority, however,  was  against  Mr.  Clay,  and  a  law-suit  was  the  result. 
The  decision  was  not  satisfactory  to  Mr.  Clay,  and  he  refused  taking 
the  amount  offered,  and  told  the  vestry  if  they  would  not  pay 
him  what  he  considered  right,  he  would  receive  none.  The  vestry 
ordered  Mr,  Fry,  the  collector,  to  lay  it  out  in  a  land-warrant, 
VOL.  II.— 4 


60  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

thinking  that  he  might  change  his  mind.  Nothing  more  appeared 
on  the  vestry-book  about  it,  and  how  it  was  ended  I  know  not. 
Mr.  Clay  must  have  left  St.  Anne's  in  1784,  for  we  find  him  repre- 
senting the  Church  in  Chesterfield  in  the  Episcopal  Convention  at 
Richmond,  in  the  year  1785,  but  never  afterward.  The  Church 
was  daily  sinking,  and,  his  mind  being  soured  perhaps  by  his  con- 
troversy with  the  vestry,  and  discouraged  by  the  prospects  before 
him  as  a  minister,  he  moved  to  Bedford,  and  betook  himself  to  a 
farmer's  life,  only  officiating  occasionally  at  marriages,  funerals, 
&c.  to  the  few  Episcopalians  of  that  region.  He  married  a  most 
estimable  and  pious  lady  of  that  neighbourhood,  who  survived  him 
many  years  and  contributed  greatly  to  the  revival  of  the  Church 
under  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cobbs  of  that  county.  He  left  a  numerous 
and  most  respectable  family  of  sons  and  daughters,  who  have  ad- 
hered to  the  Church  of  their  parents.  At  his  death  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Ravenscroft  performed  the  funeral  services.  There  was  something 
peculiar  in  the  structure  of  Mr,  Clay's  mind,  in  proof  of  which  it 
is  mentioned  that  by  his  will  he  enjoined,  what  has  been  strictly 
observed,  that  on  the  spot  where  he  was  buried,  and  which  he  had 
marked  out,  there  should  be  raised  a  huge  pile  of  stones  for  his 
sepulchre.  It  is  about  twenty  feet  in  diameter  and  twelve  feet  high, 
and  being  first  covered  with  earth,  and  then  with  turf,  presents  the 
appearance  of  one  of  those  Indian  mounds  to  be  seen  in  our  Western 
States. 

In  looking  over  the  vestry-book,  which  extends  from  1772  to 
1785,  we  find  nothing  requiring  notice  except  the  list  of  vestrymen 
and  what  is  said  of  churches. 

The  list  of  vestrymen  is  as  follows : — John  Coles,  Jacob  Moore, 
John  Ware,  Patrick  Napier,  James  Hopkins,  James  Garland,  Michael 
Thomas,  William  Coxe,  John  Pry,  Roger  and  George  Thompson, 
William  Burton,  John  Harris,  John  Scott,  Thomas  Jefferson,  Or- 
lando Jones,  William  Oglesby,  Richard  Farrar,  Philip  Mazzei, 
William  Hughes,  Samuel  Shelton,  Wm.  Ball,  Charles  Lewis,  Na- 
thaniel Garland,  Nicholas  Hamner,  Richard  Davenport,  John  Old, 
Joshua  Fry,  Charles  Irving,  John  Jordan.  The  vestry  appears 
throughout  to  have  been  attentive  to  the  glebe-house  and  its  appur- 
tenances. As  to  churches,  in  1774  it  was  ordered  that  a  church 
be  built  at  a  place  to  be  chosen  by  Henry  Martin  and  Patrick 
Napier,  and  that  Messrs.  Roger  and  George  Thompson  might  each 
build  a  pew,  adjoining,  at  their  own  expense.  In  1777  a  church 
was  contracted  for  with  Mr.  Edward  Cobbs,  at  whose  house  services 
had  been  held.  It  was  not  finished  for  some  years.  It  is  also 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  51 

stated  that  in  1777  Mr.  James  Minor,  Dabney  Minor,  and  John 
Napier  were  appointed  to  examine  a  church  built  by  a  Mr.  Ander- 
son. During  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Clay  there  was  also  a  Mr.  Holmes 
acting  as  a  teacher  and  preacher  in  Albemarle.  He  was  also  Ame- 
rican in  his  feelings,  and  rejoiced  in  the  capture  of  Cornwallis. 

After  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Clay  the  Rev.  Mr.  Darneile  per- 
formed some  services  here  and  in  Nelson.  We  learn  that  he  became 
involved  in  debt,  and  studied  law;  but,  not  extricating  himself,  he 
left  his  family,  and,  going  to  the  South,  spent  some  years  there. 
From  the  year  1795  to  1812  the  Rev.  William  Crawford  occasion- 
ally officiated  at  the  churches  in  St.  Anne's  parish. 

After  that  period  there  were  no  services  until  the  year  1818, 
when  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bausman  divided  his  labours  between  the  few 
remaining  Episcopalians  about  Charlottesville  in  St.  Anne's  parish, 
and  Walker's  Church,  in  Fredericksville.  The  Episcopal  Church, 
under  new  auspices,  now  began  to  revive  a  little.  The  Gospel  was 
preached  in  a  clearer  and  more  forcible  manner  than  had  been  com- 
mon in  Virginia,  and  the  ministers  exhibited  more  zeal.  In  the  year 
1820,  the  Rev.  Frederick  Hatch  succeeded  to  Mr.  Bausman,  and 
extended  his  efforts  to  the  Green  Mountain,  finding  a  considerable 
number  of  the  old  families  still  attached  to  the  Church.  Old  Bal- 
lenger  Church  was  in  ruins,  and  that  called  The  Forge  was  in  little 
better  condition.  Still,  service  was  held  in  it  for  some  years.  The 
first  time  I  ever  saw  it  was  in  company  with  Bishop  Moore,  not  long 
after  his  coming  to  Virginia.  It  was  a  cold,  cloudy,  stormy  day, 
and  the  wind  whistled  not  only  around  but  within  its  tattered  walls. 
The  Holy  Communion  was  administered  to  a  few  of  the  old  adhe- 
rents of  the  church.  General  Cocke,  from  Fluvanna,  had  come 
that  morning  from  his  home,  between  twenty  and  thirty  miles,  to 
partake  of  his  first  Communion,  as  he  has  continued  to  do  ever  since 
on  Episcopal  visitations.  The  resolve  was  taken  that  day,  that  a 
new  and  better  house  must  be  provided  for  the  worship  of  God, 
which  has  been  faithfully  fulfilled.  Some  miles  off,  in  a  more  cen- 
tral  position  and  on  a  beautiful  site,  a  neat  and  excellent  brick 
church  has  been  erected,  and  near  it,  more  recently,  a  parsonage 
and  small  glebe  have  been  added.  A  parish  has  been  established  in 
that  part  of  the  county.  A  succession  of  ministers  either  in  whole 
or  in  part  have  ministered  unto  it.  The  Rev,  Mr.  Hatch  stands 
first.  Then  follow  the  Rev.  Zachariah  Mead,  the  Rev,  Joseph 
Wilmer,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Boyden,  the  Rev.  Charles  Ambler,  and  their 
present  rector,  the  Rev.  W.  M.  Nelson.  But  few  of  the  old  fami- 


52  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

lies  are  represented  now.  The  Fryes,  Cobbs,  Nicholases,  Harrises, 
Lewises,  Garlands,  Thomases,  Thompsons,  Joneses,  Napiers,  are 
gone,  but  the  descendants  of  John  Cole,  in  considerable  number, 
the  Tompkinses,  Riveses,  Carters,  Gants,  Randolphs,  and  others,  have 
taken  their  places,  and  will,  I  trust,  fulfil  them  well.  In  that  part 
of  the  parish  called  North  Garden,  and  near  which  an  old  church 
stood,  a  new  brick  church  was  also  erected  by  the  zeal  and  libe- 
rality of  a  few  devoted  friends,  and  the  same  was  done  also  on  the  road 
leading  from  Charlottesville  to  Staunton,  and  the  two,  being  brought 
into  one  parish,  have  generally  been  supplied  with  a  minister. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Christian  acted  for  some  time  as  missionary  in  that 
part  of  the  county.  Then  the  Rev.  William  Jackson,  who  recently 
fell  victim  to  the  fever  in  Norfolk,  was  the  settled  pastor  for  some 
years.  After  him  came  the  Rev.  Mr.  Slack,  and  at  present  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Davis,  who,  as  well  as  most  of  his  predecessors,  connect 
with  them  the  church  on  Buckmoimtain,  in  Fredericksville  parish, 
and  sometimes  the  church  at  Rockfish,  in  Nelson  county. 

To  the  zeal  and  enterprise  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hatch,  is,  under  God, 
to  be  ascribed  the  building  of  the  church  in  Charlottesville,  which 
stands  just  within  the  bounds  of  Fredericksville  parish.  For  a  long 
time  the  court-house  was  the  only  place  in  Charlottesville  or  round 
about  for  public  worship.  The  four  leading  denominations  in  the 
State  equally  divided  the  Sabbaths,  and  some  thought  that  this 
was  sufficient,  and  calculated  to  promote  peace  and  love  among  them 
all.  Mr.  Jefferson  used  to  bring  his  seat  with  him  on  horseback 
from  Monticello,  it  being  some  light  machinery  which,  folded  up, 
was  carried  under  his  arm,  and  unfolded  served  for  a  chair  on  the 
floor  of  the  court-house.  But  the  great  body  of  the  people  felt 
the  need  of  a  more  convenient  place  of  worship,  where  more  per- 
sons could  be  accommodated  and  in  a  better  manner.  It  was  pro- 
posed that  all  denominations  should  unite  in  one;  but  that  was 
found  full  of  difficulties,  and  was  soon  abandoned.  It  was  then 
proposed  that  two  should  unite, — the  Episcopalians  and  Presbyte- 
rians; which  also  came  to  nothing.  Mr.  Hatch,  who  was  opposed 
to  either  scheme,  then  circulated  a  subscription  for  an  Episcopal 
church,  which  immediately  succeeded,  and  was  soon  followed  with 
the  same  success  by  all  the  others ;  and  the  village  is  now  filled 
with  well-built  churches.  The  plan  of  the  Episcopal  church  was 
furnished  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  and,  though,  far  from  being  the  best,  is 
much  better  for  the  purposes  of  worship  and  preaching  than  most 
of  those  which  now  come  from  the  hands  of  ecclesiological  archi- 
tects, who,  if  hired  to  injure  the  voices  and  energies  of  ministers,  and 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  53 

to  frustrate  the  main  purposes  for  which  temples  of  religion  are 
built,  could  not  have  succeeded  much  better  than  they  have  done  by 
fcheir  lofty  ceilings,  their  pillars,  recesses,  and  angles,  besides  the 
heavy  debts  into  which  they  have  led  their  employers.  The  church 
in  Charlottesville  has  been  recently  enlarged  and  much  improved. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Hatch  was  succeeded  in  this  parish  by  the  Rev. 
Zachariah  Mead,  an  alumnus  of  our  Seminary.  For  the  encou- 
ragement of  young  men  of  weak  constitutions  to  choose  a  country 
parish,  let  me  give  the  experience  of  Mr.  Mead.  When  he  left  the 
Seminary  he  was  thought  to  be  far  gone  in  that  disease  of  which 
he  eventually  died, — consumption, — so  that  he  required  assistance 
to  get  into  the  stage  which  was  to  convey  him  to  the  place  where 
it  was  soon  to  be  determined  whether  a  speedy  death  or  a  prolonged 
life  was  to  be  his  portion.  The  latter  was  his  portion.  By  little 
and  little  he  enlarged  his  sphere  of  labour,  until  on  horseback  he 
rode  over  the  whole  hilly  and  mountainous  country  of  Albemarle, 
taking  charge  of  all  the  congregations  in  both  parishes,  which  now 
employ,  and  fully  employ,  the  labours  of  four  ministers,  and  in 
less  than  a  year  swam  the  Rivanna  River,  on  horseback,  on  a 
bleak  day,  without  taking  cold.  He  became  a  hearty  man,  and 
continued  so  until  he  returned  to  the  North,  took  charge  of  a  con- 
gregation in  Boston,  lost  his  health,  and  was  obliged  to  seek  its 
restoration  in  the  milder  climate  of  Richmond  and  in  the  editorial 
chair.  Had  he  returned  again  to  the  labours  of  a  country  ministry, 
his  days  and  services  might  have  been  prolonged.  Mr.  Z.  Mead 
was  succeeded  for  two  years  in  the  church  at  Charlottesville  by  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Cobbs,  (now  Bishop,)  while  performing  the  duties  of 
Chaplain  to  the  University.  He  was  followed  by  the  present 
minister,  the  Rev.  R.  K.  Meade,  who  has  been  in  this  position  ever 
since  his  ordination, — more  than  twenty  years.  Every  fourth  year 
at  first,  and,  of  late,  every  two  years  in  eight,  the  Chaplaincy  of 
the  University  is  filled  by  an  Episcopal  minister,  which  deserves  to 
be  mentioned  in  the  history  of  the  Church  in  this  parish.  It  was 
just  before  the  Chaplaincy  of  Mr.  Cobbs,  that  a  circumstance 
occurred  deserving  some  notice,  as  it  occasioned  much  excitement 
at  the  time,  and  not  a  little  misapprehension.  A  pestilential 
disease  had  visited  the  students  of  the  Institution  for  two  succes- 
sive years,  or  twice  in  the  same  year,  sweeping  a  number  of  them 
into  untimely  graves.  There  was  something  most  unaccountable, 
mysterious,  and  awful  in  all  the  circumstances  of  it.  Though 
there  was  confessedly  much  of  irreligion  and  even  infidelity  in  the 
faculty  of  that  day,  yet  such  an  awe  rested  upon  them,-  that  at  the 


D4  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

instance  of  a  pious  member  of  it,  Judge  Lomax,  the  Law  Professor, 
it  was  determined  to  celebrate  the  event  in  the  most  solemn  man- 
ner. The  Episcopal  Convention  was  to  meet  in  Oharlottesville  the 
ensuing  spring,  and  that  was  selected  as  the  proper  time  for  it. 
The  author  of  these  pages  was  requested  to  prepare  and  deliver  a 
discourse  at  that  time  and  on  the  occasion  referred  to.  It  was  a 
most  trying  and  responsible  undertaking,  but  he  dared  not  refuse, 
At  the  time  appointed  there  was  present,  on  Sabbath  morning,  in 
the  great  rotunda  of  the  University,  a  large  number  of  the  clergy 
and  laity  then  in  attendance  on  the  Convention,  with  the  Professors, 
students,  and  people  around. 

The  sermon  was  preached  from  those  words  of  the  Prophet  Amos, 
(3d  chap.  6th  verse,)  "Shall  a  trumpet  be  blown  in  the  city  and 
the  people  not  be  afraid  ?  Shall  there  be  evil  in  the  city  and  the 
Lord  hath  not  done  it?"  I  need  not  say  that  the  doctrine  of  an 
overruling  special  providence  was  drawn  from  these  words,  in  op 
position  to  atheism,  chance,  or  some  general  divine  providence 
which  attends  only  to  great  things,  which  governs  and  directs  tho 
spheres,  but  lets  the  atoms  fly  at  random, — that  a  warning  was 
given  to  take  heed  to  this  judgment,  and  carefully  inquire  what 
was  the  righteousness  that  God  called  on  us  to  learn.  The  im- 
portance of  literary  institutions  was  dwelt  upon,  and  especially  the 
great  duty  of  calling  in  the  aid  of  Heaven  in  the  conduct  of  them. 

I  hope  the  reader  will  excuse  the  insertion  of  the  following 


"  The  design  of  God,  therefore,  in  these  dispensations,  and  the  use  to 
be  made  of  them  by  us,  are  as  plain  as  they  are  important.  When  God 
visits  us  with  the  rod  of  affliction,  it  is  that  we  may  search  our  hearts 
and  try  our  ways  and  turn  to  him.  When  his  judgments  are  abroad  in 
the  earth,  it  is  that  the  inhabitants  may  learn  righteousness.  Does  it  not, 
then,  become  all  concerned  in  this  Institution  to  ask,  May  not  these 
judgments  have  been  intended  to  stir  us  up  to  more  zeal  in  rendering  it 
holy  and  acceptable  to  God  ?  Should  they  not  ask,  With  what  views  and 
hopes  have  we  entered  upon  this  work  ?  Did  we  acknowledge  tho 
Almighty,  and  feel  that  without  his  blessing  we  could  not  prosper  ?  or 
was  our  hope  from  the  talents  and  favour  of  man?  Have  we  not  only 
invoked  the,  aid  and  placed  it  under  the  guardian  care  of  God,  but  sin- 
cerely dedicated  it  to  him,  wishing  to  make  it  an  instrument  of  glory  in 
our  land,  by  training  up  youths,  not  merely  in  human  literature,  but  in 
the  sublimest  of  all  sciences  and  the  noblest  of  all  virtues, — the  knowledge 
and  love  of  God  ?  If  such  have  not  been  the  principles  upon  which  this 
Institution  was  raised,  or  on  which  it  is  now  conducted,  is  it  superstition 
or  weakness  to  ask  whether  these  visitations  have  not  been  sent  to  show 
fclie  rulers  thereof  their  entire  dependence  upon  God  ?  See  how  easily 
the  Almighty  can  blast  all  their  high,  hopes  and  dash  all  their  noble 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  55 

»ch ernes  to  the  earth.  See  how  quickly  he  can  send  a  plague  or  pestilence 
through  these  buildings,  and  scatter  far  and  wide  the  young  tenants 
thereof,  and  strike  such  a  panic  through  the  hearts  of  parents  and  friends 
that  you  can  scarce  recall  them.  Oh,  it  is  a  hazardous  experiment  to  tin- 
dertake  to  conduct  such  an  institution,  in  which  the  minds  of  young 
immortal  and  rational  beings  are  to  be  instructed,  and  their  passions 
restrained  and  their  actions  regulated,  without  constantly  and  earnestly 
imploring  and  seeking  the  aid  of  God  in  the  way  of  his  appointment.  It 
cannot  be  done.  I  know  the  difficulties  of  this  work;  I  am  well  aware  of 
the  peculiar  difficulties  of  it  in  this  place ;  and  am  not  upbraiding  those 
who  are  sincerely  desiring  to  do  all  that  is  right.  But  still,  as  the  minister 
of  God  requested  to  speak  on  this  occasion,  I  can  take  no  other  view  of 
the  subject  than  that  which  has  been  presented,  and  am  firmly  convinced, 
from  the  word  of  God  and  the  past  history  of  man,  that  any  attempt  to 
succeed  in  such  a  work  without  invoking  and  securing  the  blessing  of 
God  must  fail  of  permanent  success. 

"In  every  age  of  the  world  the  instructors  of  youth  have  been  deeply 
impressed  with  the  importance  of  inculcating  reverence  to  the  gods,  and 
making  religion  take  its  due  part  in  their  public  exercises*  The  philoso- 
phers of  Greece  and  Eome — Socrates  and  Plato,  Seneca  and  Epictetus — 
failed  not  in  this  duty.  The  Rabbis  in  Judea  made  this  a  principal 
science  in  their  schools.  And  has  it  pleased  the  Almighty  to  clear  away 
all  the  shadows  and  clouds  and  reveal  the  true  light  to  us?  Has  he  visited 
jbe  earth  and  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light  by  the  Gospel?  Has 
Jbe  set  this  in  opposition  to  all  the  wisdom  of  man, — philosophy,  falsely  so 
called, — saying,  *  Where  is  the  wise,  where  is  the  scribe,  where  is  the 
disputer  of  this  world  ?  Hath  not  God  made  foolish  the  wisdom  of  this 
world  r  And  shall  this  be  neglected  and  left  out  of  the  wide  range  of 
scientific  research  ?  Shall  we  be  content  to  be  wise  for  a  few  years  only, 
and  not  for  everlasting  ages  ?  From  the  circle  of  sciences  shall  the  most 
important  and  sublime  and  interesting  be  excluded  ?  In  an  institution 
bearing  in  its  very  name  a  determination  to  take  the  widest  range  of 
intellectual  improvement,  shall  that  be  omitted  in  which  all  are  equally 
because  all  are  infinitely  concerned  ?  Shall  the  roving  and  adventurous 
mind  of  youth  be  permitted  to  wander  through  all  the  labyrinths  and 
mysteries  of  science  without  the  sure  light  of  heavenly  truth  to  gjuide  it? 
Oh,  might  I  be  permitted  to  speak  to  all  the  friends  and  patrons  and 
directors  of  this  College  in  the  language  of  plain  but  affectionate  entreaty, 
I  would  beseech  them,  as  they  would  have  it  to  find  favour  with  God  and 
man  and  be  a  mighty  blessing  to  our  State  and  country,  that  they  solemnly 
dedicate  it  to  Almighty  God,  and  place  it  under  his  guardian  care.  In 
his  name  and  by  his  laws  let  them  rule  over  it.  Let  them  see  that  the 
high  motives  and  awful  sanctions  of  religion  be  continually  and  eloquently 
presented  to  the  minds  of  the  youth  committed  to  their  care.  Let  the 
divine  philosophy  of  the  Bible  be  here  studied.  Let  the  morality  here 
taught  be  the  morality  of  the  Bible.  Let  the  Bible,  which  is  the  religion 
of  Protestants,  be  the  text-book  of  first  esteem  and  most  constant  reference. 
Let  the  history  of  our  religion  be  learnt;  let  the  proofs  of  Christianity  be 
investigated;  let  the  prophecies  of  the  most  ancient  and  venerable  books 
be  read  and  compared  with  all  other  histories  that  attest  their  fulfilment. 
Let  it, not  be  said  that  nothing  is  taught  contrary  to  Christianity;  that  the 
mind  is  ,eft  free  to  its  own  choice :  rather  let  it  be  announced  to  the 
world  that  every  thing  which  can  be  said  is  said  in  its  behalf,  and  every 


56  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

thiuo-  which  can  be  done  is  done  in  order  to  lead  those  immortal  souls,  whu 
come  hither  for  the  high  improvement  of  their  faculties,  to  the  saving 
knowledge  of  Him  who  is  <  the  true  God  and  eternal  life.'  Then  indeed 
may  we  "be  assured  that  this  Institution  enjoys  the  smiles  of  a  gracious 
Providence,  and  will  be  as  others  in  our  land,— the  fruitful  nursery  of 
Christian  patriots,  of  learned  defenders  of  the  faith,  of  able  and  eloquent 
ministers  of  the  Gospel,  as  well  as  of  those  who  shall  adorn  by  their  worth 
and  talents  all  other  professions  of  our  land,  and  shed  a  mild  lustre  over 
«he  most  private  walks  of  life.  Then  will  the  most  anxious  ^  Christian 
parents,  and  the  most  fearfully  jealous  Christian  ministers,  cherish  it  with 
fondness,  as  the  favoured  of  God,  and  with  confidence  commit,  as  to  a 
fostering  mother,  the  sons  whom  they  have  dedicated  to  Heaven,  and 
would  have  to  be  trained  up  in  its  holy  nurture  and  admonition  ^  and 
then  will  those  pious  youths  who  have  been  here  advancing  in  all  divine 
as  well  as  human  wisdom  ever  look  back  to  these  seats  of  science  with 
delight,  and  reckon  among  the  happiest  and  best  of  their  days  those  spent 
within  these  consecrated  walls.'7 

At  this  discourse  much  offence  was  taken  by  some,  and  many 
misrepresentations  went  forth  through  the  State.  It  was  charged 
against  it  that,  besides  undertaking  to  interpret  and  apply  the 
judgments  of  God  in  a  way  which  had  been  most  carefully  avoided, 
a  personal  attack  had  been  made  on  the  Professors  and  Visitors  of 
the  University,  and  especially  on  its  chief  founder,  whose  opinions, 
having  been  published  to  the  world,  were  known  to  be  contrary  to 
those  expressed  in  the  sermon.  So  extensively  were  these  charges, 
with  many  colourings  and  exaggerations,  spread  abroad,  that  after 
due,  consideration  the  sermon  was  published,  and  the  author  had 
the  happiness  of  learning  that  the  effect  of  its  publication  was 
such  as  he  desired.  Many  were  astonished  to  find  that  any  in  a 
Christian  land  could  object  to  its  doctrine,  or  expect  any  other 
improvement  of  the  occasion  from  a  Christian  minister.  But  it 
was  long  before  the  preacher  could  be  forgiven  by  some  within  the 
walls  of  the  University.  Previous  to  that  he  had  been  freely  in- 
vited to  preach  there,  but  for  some  years  even  some  of  his  friends 
were  afraid  to  propose  it.  We  must,  however,  in  justice  say,  that 
the  opposition  was  not  from  Virginians,  nor  from  Americans,  but 
from  foreigners,  who  were  allowed  to  forbid  a  minister  of  Virginia 
to  be  heard  in  the  University  of  Virginia.  It  was,  however,  the 
happiness  of  that  minister  to  see,  only  a  few  years  after,  all  the 
offensive  features  of  his  sermon  adopted  into  the  administration 
of  the  College,  as  far  perhaps  as  is  practicable  under  the  circum- 
stances of  its  existence  as  the  common  property  of  all  denomina' 
tions  of  Christians  and  all  citizens  of  the  State. 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  67 


ARTICLE  LIL 

Parishes  in  Amhef  st,  Nelson,  Botetourt,  Roe'k'bridge^ 
and  Montgomery. 

Ls~  1761,  Amherst  county  and  Amherst  parish  were  separated 
from  Albemarle  county  and  St.  Anne's  parish.  In  the  year  1778, 
Amherst  parish  was  divided  and  Lexington  parish  established.  In 
the  year  1780,  the  boundary-line  was  changed  so  as  somewhat  to 
reduce  Lexington  parish.  The  line,  as  settled  in  1780,  we  presume 
is  the  same,  or  nearly  the  same,  which  now  separates  Nelson  and 
Amherst.  Amherst  parish  was  left  in  that  part  which  is  now  Nel- 
son county.  We  have  seen  in  our  notice  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Rose, 
that  he  became  minister  of  this  region  about  1745  or  1746,  by  being 
minister  of  all  St.  Anne's  parish  and  Albemarle  county,  then 
extending  over  Amherst  and  Nelson ;  that  he  had  four  churches 
ordered  by  the  vestry  at  one  time,— two  in  what  is  now  Albe- 
marle, and  two  in  what  is  now  Amherst  and  Nelson.  He  was 
followed  by  the  Rev.  John  Ramsey,  who  was  minister  in  1754  and 
also  in  1758, — how  much  longer  not  known.  In  1773-74-76  we  find 
the  Rev.  Ichabod  Camp  minister  of  Lexington  parish, — how  long 
before  1773  not  known.  He  lived  at  the  glebe  near  New  Glasgow, 
now  in  possession  of  Dr.  Hite.  The  shell  of  the  parsonage  is  still 
to  be  seen. 

About  the  commencement  of  the  war,  Mr.  Camp  moved  to  Illinois, 
to  a  fort  on  the  Wabash,  and  tradition  says  that  he  and  his  family 
were  destroyed  by  the  Indians.  The  first  minister  of  Lexington 
parish,  after  its  division  from  Amherst,  was  the  Rev.  John  Bu- 
chanon,  in  the  year  1780.  The  following  is  the  entry  in  the  vestry- 
book: — "  The  vestry,  taking  into  consideration  the  distressed  con- 
dition of  the  parish  for  want  of  an  orthodox  minister,  elect  Mr.  J. 
Buchanon,  a  gentleman  of  fair  character,  &c."  This  is  the  same 
person  who  afterward  ministered  in  Richmond.  He  was  ordained 
in  1775,  and  had  officiated  acceptably  elsewhere  in  Virginia.  In 
the  year  1788,  the  Rev.  John  W.  Hole  was  elected.  In  the  year 
1789,  the  Rev.  Charles  Crawford,  a  native  of  Amherst,  was  ordained 
by  Bishop  Madison,  and  received  as  minister  of  this  parish,  and 
continued  its  inimster  until  1815,  when,  from  great  corpulency, 


58  OLD    CHURCHES,    x¥INISTERS,   AND 

age,  and  infirmities,  he  resigned.  Those  who  have  retained  the 
recollection  of  Mr.  Crawford,  and  have  knowledge  of  him  otherwise, 
bear  testimony  to  his  excellency  as  a  preacher  and  a  Christian, 
The  Rev.  Silas  Freeman  succeeded  him  in  1823,  and  continued  a 
few  years.  The  Rev,  Charles  Page  followed  him  and  laboured  for 
many  years  in  that  and  the  adjoining  parish  of  Amherst,  in  Nelson 
nounty.  The  Revs.  Nelson  Sale,  Stewart,  Black,  Caldwell,  Walker, 
Caldwell  again,  and  Martin,  have  followed  in  too  rapid  succession. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  ISTowlin  is  the  present  minister. 

The  churches  in  Lexington  parish  were — Pedlar's,  near  the  moun- 
tains, where  a  new  one  was  built  some  years  since ;  Rucker's  or 
St.  Matthew's,  some  miles  from  the  court-house ;  Maple  Run 
Church,  afterward  moved  to  New  Glasgow ;  and  another  called 
Bent  Chapel,  which  was  near  James  River.  This  being  burned 
down  was  never  rebuilt.  The  brick  church  now  at  New  Glasgow 
was  built  by  a  general  subscription,  but  chiefly  of  Episcopalians, 
and  regularly  assigned  to  them,  but  afterward  claimed  by  others 
and  forcibly  entered  by  the  Campbellites.  It  was  then  bought,  by 
the  Episcopalians,  of  the  executors  of  David  Garland,  to  whom  it 
legally  belonged,  being  on  his  land,  and  was  regularly  consecrated 
as  an  Episcopal  Church.  Another  church  of  brick  has  within  the 
last  few  years  been  built  at  the  court-house  of  Amherst  county, 
The  following  is  the  list  of  vestrymen  of  this  parish  from  1779 : — 

Eichard  Ballanger,  Hugh  Rose,  Ambrose  Rucker,  Joseph  Goodwin, 
Josiah  Ellis,  Richard  Shelton,  Richard  Ogilsby,  Benjamin  Rucker,  Win. 
Ware,  Henry  Christian,  John  Christian,  Charles  Taliafero,  Thomas 
Moore,  Jos,  Bums,  W.  S.  Crawford,  Nelson  Crawford,  Richard  Powell, 
James  Ware,  James  Franklin,  Reuben  Norvel,  Thomas  Crews,  Richard 
Ellis,  Thomas  N,  Eubank,  William  Shelton,  John  Coleman,  Gabriel  Penn, 
David  Woodroof,  James  Dillard,  Daniel  Gaines,  Samuel  Higginbotharn, 
Robert  Christian,  Roderick  McCulloeh,  Samuel  Meredith,  John  Wyatt, 
David  Crawford,  George  Penn,  Edward  Carter,  James  Galloway,  James 
Higginbotham,  David  Tinsley,  Robert  Walker,  Henry  Turner,  John  Eu- 
bank, James  Ware,  John  McDaniel,  Edward  Winston,  John  Ellis,  Arthur 
B.  Davies,  Cornelius  Powell,  Edmund  Penn,  David  S,  Garland,  Dr.  Paul 
Oabell,  William  H.  McCulloch,  Samuel  M.  Garland,  Ralph  C.  Shelton, 
Zacliariah  D.  Tinsley,  Dr.  H.  L.  Davies,  James  Thornton,  William  1. 
Oabell,  William  H.  Johnson,  John  I.  Ambler,  Jr.,  Henry  Loring,  Vale- 
rius McGinnis,  Whiting  Davies,  William  R.  Roane,  Thomas  Strange, 
James  S.  Pendleton,  Captain  J.  Davies,  Edward  A.  Cabell,  Prosser  Powell, 
William  Waller,  Wilkins  Watson,  A.  B.  Davies,  Jr.,  B.  B.  Taliafero, 
Robert  Warwick,  Marshall  Harris,  D.  H.  Tapscott,  George  W.  Christian, 
William  Knight,  Dr.  William  S.  Claiborne,  Lucas  P.  Thompson,  Martin 
Tinsley,  James  Davies,  William  Shelton,  James  Rose,  William  Tucker, 
Edwin  Shelton. 


FAMILIES    OF    VIRGINIA.  59 


AMHERST   PARISH,  NELSON   COUNTY. 

We  have  seen  that  this  was  separated  from  Lexington  in  1778. 
It  is  not  known  how  many  churches  there  were  in  it  at  that  time, 
but  certainly  one  at  Rockfish  Gap,  near  the  mountain,  and  one 
near  James  River,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Oabells.  The  Rev. 
Robert  Rose,  in  his  journal  ending  in  the  year  1751,  often  speaks 
of  being  at  the  houses  of  the  Cabells  and  preaching  in  that  neigh- 
bourhood, and  doubtless  a  church  must  have  been  built  there  soon 
after,  called  Key's  Church.  About  the  year  1780,  it  is  believed 
a  Mr.  Buchan  was  minister  of  that  parish, — probably  the  same  who 
was  afterward  in  Stafford.  In  the  year  1790  the  Rev.  Isaac 
Darneile  appears  on  the  journal  of  the  Convention  as  minister  of 
this  parish.  Of  him  I  have  spoken  on  a  former  occasion,  as  one 
who  was  always  in  pecuniary  difficulties,  who  exchanged  the  pulpit 
for  the  bar,  and,  failing  in  that  also,  left  his  family  behind,  and, 
going  to  the  South,  spent  some  years  there.  In  1795  the  Rev. 
William  Crawford,  brother  or  near  relative  of  Mr.  Charles  Crawford, 
succeeded  Mr.  Darneile,  preaching  at  Rockfish  Key's,  the  old 
court-house,  and  Hat  Creek.  Mr.  Crawford  was,  I  believe,  the 
last  regular  minister  of  this  parish,  until  the  Rev.  Charles  Page 
undertook  the  charge  of  it,  in  connection  with  that  of  Lexington, 
some  years  after  the  revival  of  the  Church  commenced.  The  Rev. 
Mr.  King  and  Dr.  Stephens,  of  Staunton,  had  performed  some 
duties  at  Rockfish  Gap  Church  before  Mr.  Page's  more  regular 
assumption  of  the  charge  of  the  parish.  The  Rev.  Frederick 
Goodwin  succeeded  Mr.  Page  in  this  parish,  and  has  continued  to 
be  its  minister  until  the  last  year.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Martin  is  its 
present  minister.* 

As  to  the  churches  in  the  parish  of  Amherst  and  county  of  Nel- 
son of  more  recent  erection,  there  was,  until  a  few  years  since,  one 
called  Galloway's  Church,  of  whose  date,  however,  I  am  unable  to 
speak  positively,  but  think  it  must  have  been  at  a  much  later  date 
than  the  old  ones  which  have  long  since  passed  away.  This  has 
been  deserted  of  late  years  for  two  new  brick  houses, — the  one 
called  Trinity,  near  the  residence  (Oak  Ridge)  of  old  Mr.  Rives, 
and  built  chiefly,  if  not  entirely,  by  him,  and  the  other  at  New 
Market,  on  the  James  River  Canal,  at  the  mouth  of  Tye  River. 
The  old  church  at  Rockfish  has  also  been  removed  to  a  more  con- 
venient place,  not  far  off,  and  entirely  renovated. 

*  The  Rev.  Cleland  Nelson  preceded  Mr.  Goodwin  in  this  parish. 


60  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   ANP 

Amidst  no  little  opposition,  Captain  John  B.  Coles  and  Mr, 
Martin,  two  fast  friends  of  the  Church,  determined  upon  the  effort 
for  its  removal  and  renewal,  and  invited  all  the  neighbours — even 
the  poorest — to  meet  at  certain  appointed  days  for  its  prostration, 
its  removal  and  re-erection,  and  completely  triumphed  over  all 
opposition  and  falsified  all  unfavourable  prophecies.  In  another 
place  I  have  stated  that  it  has  been  for  many  years  supplied  witV 
occasional  services  by  ministers  from  Albemarle  county. 

THE   FAMILY   OF   CABELLS. 

Among  the  numerous  families  of  Amherst  and  Nelson  who  were 
the  active  supporters  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  the  Roses  and  Ca- 
bells  were  most  conspicuous.  Of  the  Roses,  the  descendants  of 
the  Rev.  Robert  Rose,  who  died  in  1751,  leaving  large  estates  to 
his  four  sons,  we  have  already  written  in  our  sketches  of  the  father 
in  a  previous  article.  Of  the  Cabells  we  will  now  make  some 
mention,  abridging  our  notice  from  the  various  accounts  we  have 
of  them. 

Dr.  William  Cabell,  a  surgeon  of  the  British  navy,  emigrated 
to  Virginia  about  the  year  1720  or  1725,  according  to  different  ac- 
counts. It  is  said  he  owned  twenty-five  thousand  acres  of  land  on 
either  side  of  Upper  James  River,  in  the  counties  of  Nelson,  Am- 
herst, and  Buckingham.  He  was  one  of  the  earliest  vestrymen  and 
wardens  in  the  Church,  as  established  in  that  part  of  Virginia,  and 
was  the  intimate  friend  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Rose.  Between  the 
years  1740  and  1750  he  appears  as  chiefly  concerned  in  the  contracts 
for  the  building  of  churches,  &c.  He  had  four  sons, — William, 
Joseph,  John,  and  Nicholas.  William,  the  eldest,  was  the  owner  of 
the  estate  called  Union  Hill,  in  Nelson  county,  on  James  River. 
Mr.  Grigsby  has  given  a  very  glowing  account  of  this  mansion  and 
the  hospitality  of  its  owner,  and  his  great  business-talents  as  a 
farmer,  and  in  other  respects  comparing  his  house  to  Mount  Vernon, 
except  that  it  was  larger,  and  himself  to  Washington,  as  to  the 
management  of  his  estate,  and  methodical  accounts  kept  by  him. 
He  speaks  of  his  association  with  Washington  in  all  the  great  poli- 
tical bodies  in  Virginia  previous  to  1776,  as  well  as  in  that  year,  and 
of  his  political  career  afterward,  terminating  in  the  adjournment  of 
the  Federal  Convention.  It  remains  for  me  to  add,  that  before  arid 
after  the  death  of  his  father,  Dr.  Cabell,  he  was  also  the  active 
vestryman  and  churchwarden  in  the  parish,  the  intimate  friend  of 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Rose,  who  was  often  at  his  house,  I  have  before  me 
subscription-papers  and  contracts  in  which  he  is  leader  in  all  Church 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  61 

matters  in  the  parish,  especially  after  the  Establishment  was  put 
down  and  it  became  necessary  to  raise  a  salary  for  the  minister  by 
private  contributions.  His  son  also,  Mr.  William  Oabell,  who  was 
a  representative  in  Congress  from  this  district  before  his  father's 
death,  and  in  connection  with  his  father,  took  part  in  the  vestry- 
proceedings.  Of  his  other  sons  I  have  no  account.  Of  his  daugh- 
ters, one  married  Mr.  Rives,  the  father  of  W.  0.  Rives  and  of  a 
number  of  other  sons  and  daughters ;  another  married  Judge  Oa- 
bell ;  another  the  Rev.  Mr.  Legrand.  The  present  Mayo  Cabell, 
of  Nelson,  and  Mrs.  Bruce,  of  Richmond,  are  also  descendants  of 
Colonel  Wm.  Cabell.  The  second  son  of  Dr.  Cabell,  father  of  the 
family,  was  Joseph,  of  whom  all  the  information  I  have  is,  that  he 
was  also  at  various  times  in  the  House  of  Burgesses,  and  took 
part  in  the  Revolution,  and  was  the  ancestor  of  General  Cabell,  of 
Danville,  and  of  the  Breckenridges  of  Virginia  and  Kentucky,  Of 
the  third  son,  John,  I  learn  that  he  was  in  the  Convention  of  1775 
and  1776,  and  was  the  father  of  the  late  Dr.  George  Cabell,  of 
Lynchburg.  Of  the  fourth  son,  Nicholas  Cabell,  of  Liberty  Hall, 
I  find  that  he  was  both  in  the  field  and  the  Legislature,  and  was 
the  father  of  the  late  Judge  W.  H.  Cabell  and  Joseph  C.  Cabell. 
I  have  also  papers  showing  that  he  was  a  vestryman  of  the  church 
in  this  parish,  and  took  a  lively  interest  in  its  affairs.  He  was  the 
collector  of  the  subscriptions  made  to  the  ministers  after  the  Revo- 
lution :  to  him  Mr.  Darneile  applied  in  his  difficulties,  for  relief, 
and  both  himself  and  his  brother,  Colonel  Wm.  Cabell,  acted  as 
friends  to  Mr.  Darneile  by  advancing  moneys  for  him.  On  a  slip 
of  paper  before  me  I  find  that  he  also  collected  what  was  given  to 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Clay,  while  minister  in  Albemarle,  for  services 
rendered  at  Key's  Church,  in  Nelson,  but  which  Mr.  Clay  re- 
quested him  to  give  to  the  poor  of  the  parish.* 

*  The  following  additions  to  my  account  of  the  Cabells  have  been  sent  me  by  one 
of  the  family,  and  mil,  I  am  sure,  prove  interesting,  not  only  to  all  of  that  wide- 
spread connection,  but  to  many  others. 

"  Dr.  William  Cabell  came  to  Virginia  either  in  1723  or  1724.  Colonel  William 
Cabell,  Sen.  it  was  who  once  held  twenty-five  thousand  acres  of  land  in  this  region. 
His  father  may  at  one  period  have  owned  half  so  much.  His  object  seemed  to  be 
rather  to  acquire  that  of  the  best  and  most  durable  quality  for  the  use  of  his  pos- 
terity, than  to  embrace  a  surface  which  could  not  be  brought  into  use  for  a  genera- 
tion to  come.  He  accordingly  secured  all  the  alluvial  land  in  the  Valley  of  Jamea 
River,  for  more  than  twenty  miles  continuously,  above  this  place,  where  he  resided. 
Was  not  he  also  the  Wm.  Cabell  whom  Mr.  Rose  visited  ?  I  have  some  doubts  whe- 
ther Colonel  Wm.  Cabell  (who  was  born  in  March,  1730)  was  settled  at  Union  Hill 


62  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

I  have  also  a  manuscript  sermon  preached  by  the  Bev.  Charles 
O'Neale,  then  probably  a  minister  of  some  neighbouring  parish, 


(or  Coileton,  as  it  was  then  called)  before  Mr.  Rose's  death.  Two  of  the  contracts 
tor  building  churches  in  Albemarle,  which  I  sent  you,  were  those  spoken  of  by 
Mr.  Rose  near  the  close  of  his  diary,  and  probably  left  with  Dr.  Cabell  for  safe- 
keeping. 

"  1.  Of  the  sons  of  Dr.  Cabell,  the  first  and  third — William  and  John — married  re- 
spectively Margaret  and  Paulina,  daughters  of  Colonel  Samuel  Jordan,  who  lived  on 
James  River,  in  Buckingham,  and  near  the  Seven  Islands.  The  former  was  ac- 
counted an  able  man  and  true  patriot  in  his  day,  and  was  much  respected  in  all  the 
relations  of  life.  He  had  four  sons,  of  whom  three  were  somewhat  distinguished 
in  the  family.  Samuel  Jordan,  the  eldest, — who  married  Sarah,  daughter  of  Colonel 
John  Syme,  of  Hanover, — was  the  member  of  Congress  from  this  district  from  1795 
to  1803.  He  had  risen  to  the  rank  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  in  the  Southern  War,  and 
afterward  served  in  the  Legislature  of  the  State,  and  in  the  Convention  of  1789. 
William,  generally  known  as  Colonel  Win.  Cabell,  Jr.,  also  served  in  the  latter  scenes 
of  the  war  in  this  State,  and  was  occasionally  in  the  Legislature  afterward.  He 
married  Anne,  daughter  of  Judge  Paul  Carrington,  and  was  the  father  of  Colonel 
Edward  A.  Cabell,  sometime  of  Amherst,  now  of  Washington,  B.C.,  of  Mayo  Cabell, 
and  of  Mrs.  Bruce,  and  others.  Landon, — the  third  son, — a  man  of  distinguished 
talents  and  acquirements,  but  never  in  public  life,  married  a  daughter  of  Colonel 
Hugh  Rose,  and  was  the  father  of  Dr.  R.  Henry  Cabell,  now  of  Richmond.  Colonel 
Cabell's  daughter  Paulina  had  married  Major  Edmund  Read,  of  Charlotte,  (son  of 
Colonel  Clement  Read;)  before  she  was  married  to  Rev.  Mr.  Legrand. 

U2.  Colonel  Joseph  Cabell — who  married  a  Miss  Hopkins,  of  Amherst,  (now  Nel- 
son,)— had  but  one  son  and  several  daughters.  The  son,  who  bore  his  own  name, 
married  Pocahontas,  daughter  of  Colonel  Robert  Boiling,  of  Chellowe,  Buchanan, 
and  their  descendants  (of  whom  you  have  mentioned  Q-eneral  Cabell)  are  numerous. 
Colonel  Joseph  Cabell  was  the  ancestor  of  the  Breckenridges  of  Kentucky,  and  not 
of  Virginia.  Thus,  his  daughter  Mary  married  John  Breckenridge,  (elder  son  of 
General  James  Breckenridge.)  This  gentleman,  after  a  successful  career  at  the 
bar  here,  (he  lived  in  Albemarle,)  removed  with  George  Nicholas  to  Kentucky, 
of  which  territory  they  immediately  became  the  leading  citizens.  When  it  was 
erected  into  a  State  Mr.  Breckenridge  was  sent  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
and  at  Ms  death  was  Mr.  Jefferson's  Attorney-General.  The  eldest  son  of  Mr. 
Breckenridge  (Joseph  Cabell  Breckenridge)  was  a  rising  statesman  of  Kentucky 
at  the  time  of  Ms  death.  He  married  a  daughter*  of  President  Smith,  of  Prince- 
ton, and  their  son  is  now  Vice-President  of  the  United  States.  The  three 
younger  sons  of  Mr.  Breckenridge — John,  Robert,  and  "William — became  dis- 
tinguished Presbyterian  clergymen.  His  daughter  (Letitia)  married  first  a  son  of 
Mr.  Senator  Grayson,  and  second,  General  P.  B.  Porter,  of  New  York,  Mr.  Adams's 
Secretary  of  War.  To  return :  Colonel  Joseph  Cabell  had  other  daughters,  of  whom 
Anne  married  Robert  Carter,  son  of  Carter  Harrison,  of  Clifton,  in  Cumber- 
land ;  and  Elizabeth  married  Colonel  William  J.  Lewis,  of  Campbell,  sometime  mem- 
ber of  Congress  from  that  district.  The  major  part  of  Colonel  J.  Cabell's  descend- 
ants are  now  to  be  found  in  the  West, — particularly  in  Kentucky  and  Missouri, 

"  8.  Colonel  John  Cabell  had  several  sons, — of  whom  Dr.  George  Cabell,  of  Lynch- 


*  Miss  Caroline  Smith,  who,  when  the  author  of  this  work  was  at  Priweton  College,  was  a  favour?  to 
vith  the  students  by  reason  of  her  many  interesting  qualities. 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  63 

afterward  in  Prince  William,  in  the  year  1794,  on  the  occasion  of 
the  death  of  two  of  Mr.  Nicholas  Cabell's  daughters,  Hannah  and 
Henningham,  who  died  on  the  7th  and  8th  of  September  of  that 
year,  aged  the  one  eight  and  the  other  six  years.  In  this  sermon 
also  we  see  the  deficiency  of  the  pulpit  in  that  day.  Once  only  is 
there  allusion  to  Christ,  when  he  says  that  "  to  those  who  lead  a 
virtuous  life,  and  die  in  the  faith  of  Christ,  the  whole  aspect  of 
death  is  changed,"  while  in  the  sermon,  which  is  on  resignation  and 
preparation  for  death,  he  speaks  of  certain  duties  u  to  be  performed 
in  order  to  ma.ke  us  acceptable  to  God,"  and  at  the  close  of  it  says 
that  "the  best  preparation  for  death  is  a  virtuous  temper  and  a  good 
life.  When  once  you  are  furnished  with  these  qualifications,  you 
may  view  it  approaching  toward  you  with  a  calm  and  constant  mind, 
free  from  any  timorous  and  unmanly  solicitude."  Nothing  is  said  in 
the  sermon  about  a  new  birth  of  the  Spirit  as  a  necessary  qualifica- 
tion for  heaven,  of  faith  in  Christ  and  repentance  toward  God  as 
being  the  constant  exercises  of  the  true  Christian,  and  from  which 
any  good  works  can  flow.  There  are  many  very  good  things  said 
about  the  vanity  of  earthly  things  and  the  duty  of  considering  our 
latter  end,  but  they  are  such  things  as  are  common  to  the  Christian 
preacher  and  the  pagan  philosopher. 

I  might  also  speak  of  the  Sheltons,  Taliaferos,  Thompsons, 
Ellises,  Davises,  Tinsleys,  Garlands,  and  others,  as  having  been 
fast  friends  of  the  Church  in  Amherst  and  Nelson,  but  refer  to  the 
list  of  vestrymen  for  the  purpose  of  showing  who  were  her  perse- 
vering advocates. 

There  is  one  name  on  which  I  must  dwell  for  a  moment.  Mr 
William  Waller,  lately  deceased,  was  perhaps  inferior  to  none  of 
the  laity  of  Virginia  in  personal  piety  and  hearty  zeal  for  the 


burg,  was  the  eldest.     His  brother  John,  of  the  same  place,  was  also  a  learned  and 
successful  physician. 

*'  A  third  son — Frederick — succeeded  to  the  family  mansion  on  James  River,  op 
posite  New  Market,  and  his  eldest  son,  of  the  same  name,  was  several  times  a  dele- 
gate from  this  county  under  the  second  Constitution,  and  the  first  Senator  from  this 
district  under  the  present  regime.  A  fourth  son  of  Colonel  John  removed  to  Kentucky. 
One  of  his  daughters  married  first  her  cousin  Hector,  and  afterward  Judge  Daniel. 

"4.  Colonel  Nicholas  Cabell  embarked  in  the  Revolutionary  service  so  early 
as  1775,  and  several  years  afterward  the  Legislature  appointed  him  to  the  com- 
mand of  one  of  the  State  Regiments ;  but  it  so  happened,  and  much  to  his  morti- 
fication, that  he  was  never  called  into  action.  He  served  in  the  Senate  for  more 
than  sixteen  years  from  1785.  Of  his  four  sons  we  have  mentioned  the  first  and 
third.  The  second  was  the  father  of  Professor  Cabell,  of  the  University;  the  fonrtto 
of  Francis  Cabell,  of  Warminster/' 


64  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

Church,  as  well  as  for  all  that  was  amiable  and  excellent  in  private 
life.  He  was  well  known  in  our  Conventions,  which  he  delighted 
to  attend,  and  acted  as  an  efficient  vestryman  and  lay  reader  for  a 
long  time.  He  has  left  a  large  family  of  children,  who  I  trust  will 
follow  his  good  example. 

One  word  is  added  concerning  the  family  of  Massies,  in  Nelson, 
not  very  far  from  Rockfish  Church.  It  came  at  an  early  period 
from  England,  and  settled  in  New  Kent,  where  several  in  succession 
were  vestrymen.  Major  Massie,  of  Nelson,  after  having  served  in 
the  Revolution,  moved  from  New  Kent  about  the  close  of  the  war, 
and  was  a  vestryman  of  the  Church  in  Frederick  county,  with 
Colonel  Burwell,  Meade,  and  others.  From  thence  he  moved  to 
Nelson,  and  lived  in  great  seclusion  the  remainder  of  his  days.  He 
had  three  sons,  of  whom  Dr.  Thomas  Massie,  of  Nelson,  was  the  eldest. 

COUNTIES   AND   PARISHES   OF  BOTETOURT,   ROCKINQ-HAM,    ROCK- 
BRIDGE,  GREENBRIER,   AND   MONTGOMERY. 

When  Frederick  county  was  first  divided  from  Augusta,  the  lattei 
was  left  with  all  of  Western  Virginia  beyond  the  Alleghany  Moun- 
tains, then  extending  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  or,  as  it  was  sometimes 
said,  to  the  "waters  of  the  Mississippi." 

In  the  year  1769,  Botetourt  was  taken  from  Augusta,  and  also 
extended  westward  indefinitely.  At  a  subsequent  period  Mont- 
gomery was  taken  from  Botetourt.  But  in  the  year  1777,  Rock- 
ingham,  till  then  part  of  Augusta,  and  Rockbridge  and  Greenbrier, 
were  cut  off  from  Augusta,  Botetourt,  and  Montgomery.  In  all 
of  these,  parishes  were  also  established  by  Act  of  Assembly.  What 
was  done  in  them  after  this  is  unknown.  In  Rockingham,  probably 
before  its  separation  from  Augusta,  there  were,  as  may  be  seen  in 
our  article  on  Augusta,  two  churches*  In  Rockbridge,  when  com- 
posed of  parts  of  Augusta  and  Botetourt,  there  may  have  been  a 
church  or  churches,  but  I  have  obtained  no  information  of  such. 
Before  this  period  the  Presbyterians  had  made  settlements  in  this 
region,  especially  about  Lexington.  On  none  of  our  lists  of  clergy 
or  records  do  we  find  any  minister  belonging  to  Rockbridge  after 
its  separation  from  Augusta  and  Botetourt.  In  Montgomery  and 
Greenbrier  parishes  and  counties,  we  presume  there  were  none.  In 
Botetourt  parish,  (for  all  the  new  parishes  were  called  by  the  same 
name  with  the  counties,)  we  find  that  the  Rev.  Adam  Smith  was  the 
minister  in  the  years  1774  and  1776.  He  was  the  father  of  Mr. 
Alexander  Smith,  sometimes  written  Smythe,  of  Wythe  county, 
member  of  Congress,  and  General  in  the  last  war  with  England. 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA,  65 

We  know  of  no  other  but  the  Rev.  Samuel  Gray,  who  appears  on 
the  journal  of  1796,  and  who  died  in  the  parish  poor-house,  the 
miserable  victim  of  drink.  In  Fineastle  there  was  an  Episcopal 
church  on  the  spot  where  the  Presbyterian  church  now  stands. 
A  new  church  being  built  there,  the  Presbyterians  worshipped  in  it, 
and  were  perhaps  most  active  in  its  erection.  By  an  Act  of  the 
Legislature,  the  lot  of  ground  on  which  it  stood  was  given  to  that 
denomination.  It  was  not  until  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cobbs  commenced 
his  labours  in  Bedford  and  extended  his  visits  to  Botetourt,  that 
any  hopes  were  raised,  in  the  breasts  of  the  Episcopalians  in  that 
county,  of  the  establishment  of  the  Church  of  their  fathers  and  of 
their  affection. 

During  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Gray,  some  of  the  descendants  of 
Major  Burwell,  an  old  vestryman  of  the  church  in  King  William, 
had  removed  to  the  neighbourhood  of  Fincastle.  General  Breck- 
enridge,  and  Watts,  who  had  not  forgotten  the  Church  of  their 
forefathers,  were  also  there.  Woodville,  son  of  the  old  minister 
of  Culpepper,  one  of  the  Taylors  from  Old  Mount  Airy,  in  the 
Northern  Neck,  Madison,  son  of  Bishop  Madison,  and  others  who 
might  be  mentioned,  were  there  to  encourage  the  effort  at  esta- 
blishing a  church.  And  yet,  on  my  first  visit  to  that  county  after 
my  consecration,  only  one  solitary  voice  was  heard  in  the  responses 
of  our  service. 

After  some  years  the  Rev.  Dabney  Wharton,  from  the  neigh- 
bouring county,  took  Orders  and  entered  on  the  work  of  resuscita- 
ting or  rather  establishing  the  Church  there,  and  during  his  residence 
in  the  parish  did  much  to  effect  it.  The  Rev.  W.  H.  Pendleton 
succeeded  him  for  some  years,  and,  though  removing  for  a  time  to 
another,  has  returned  to  a  portion  of  his  former  field.  He  was 
succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  McElroy,  in  1847.  The  Rev.  George 
Wilmer  also  spent  some  years  there,  first  as  minister  to  the  whole 
parish,  and  then  to  a  portion  of  it,  which  was  formed  into  a  distinct 
parish,  now  in  the  county  of  Roanoke.  New  churches  have  been 
erected  in  each  portion, — one  at  Big  Lick,  in  Roanoke,  another  at 
Fincastle,  a  third  at  Buchanon.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Baker  has  for  some 
years  been  the  minister  of  the  two  congregations  in  Fincastle  and 
Buchanon.  The  new  church  at  Buchanon  deserves  a  word  of 
special  notice.  It  is  chiefly  the  result  of  female  enterprise.  A 
lady  well  known  in  Virginia,  who  occasionally  visited  it  in  the 
summer  season,  fleeing  from  the  sultry  heat  of  Richmond,  deter- 
mined to  effect  it  by  collections,  far  and  near,  of  only  twelve  and 
a  half  cents  from  each  contributor,  and  by  dint  of  perseverance, 

VOL.  II.— 5 


66  OLU    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

succeeded  in  the  course  of  a  few  years, — at  least,  so  far  as  to  secure 
the  object.  A  neat,  well-filled  brick  church  is  now  to  be  seen  at 
Buchanon. 

Although  there  was  no  church  in  Eockbridge  county  in  former 
times,  so  far  as  I  am  informed,  I  must  not  omit  to  mention  a  most 
successful  effort  of  later  years.  About  the  year  1889  or  1840,  the 
Rev.  William  Bryant,  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  a  graduate  of  West 
Point,  who  had  left  the  army  of  his  country  to  enter  the  army  of 
the  Lord  and  become  one  of  the  great  company  of  preachers,  was 
induced  by  his  friend,  and  almost  brother,  as  well  as  fellow-student 
at  West  Point,  Colonel  Smith,  of  the  Military  Institute  at  Lexing- 
ton, ta  come  and  seek  to  establish  an  Episcopal  church  at  that 
place.  Difficult  as  the  work  seemed  to  be,  and  most  doubtful  the 
success  of  it,  especially  to  one  of  so  meek  and  quiet  a  spirit,  and 
destitute  of  those  popular  talents  in  the  pulpit  so  much  called  for 
in  such  positions,  he  nevertheless,  in  humble  dependence  on  divine 
assistance,  undertook  the  task  and  succeeded  far  beyond  general 
expectation.  With  generous  aids  from  other  parts  of  the  State, 
and  active  exertions  on  the  part  of  the  few  friends  in  Lexington, 
a  handsome  brick  church  has  been  built  and  a  respectable  though 
still  a  small  congregation  been  collected.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Bryant 
was  succeeded  by  one  of  our  present  missionaries  to  China, — the  Rev. 
Robert  Nelson, — who,  pursuing  the  same  judicious  course  and  putting 
forth  the  same  efforts  with  his  predecessor,  carried  on  the  work 
with  the  same  success,  until  in  the  providence  of  God  he  was  called 
to  a  distant  field  in  which  he  had  long  desired  to  labour.  The  Rev. 
William  N.  Pendleton  has  now  for  some  years  been  labouring  as  his 
successor. 

Higher  up  the  valley,  in  what  was  once  Montgomery  county  and 
parish,  but  is  now  not  only  Montgomery,  but  Wythe,  and  Wash- 
ington, and  others,  we  cannot  read  or  hear  of  any  effort  being 
made  in  behalf  of  establishing  the  Episcopal  Church  until  within 
the  last  twenty  years,  when  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gofer  was  sent  as  mis* 
sionary  to  Abingdon,  in  Washington  county.  Some  years  after  his 
relinquishment  of  the  station  the  Rev.  James  McCabe  occupied  it, 
and  during  his  stay,  I  believe,  a  neat  but  very  small  brick  church 
was  put  up.  He  was  succeeded  for  two  years  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lee. 
It  has  now  for  some  time  been  without  a  minister,  though  we  hope 
for  better  times. 

As  emigration  and  natural  increase  of  population  shall  follow 
the  railroad  up  this  narrow  though  fertile  valley,  and  whenever  the 
mountains  on  either  side  shall  be  cleared  of  their  forests,  we  may 


FAMILIES    OF    VlxvtfilNlA  67 


surely  hope  better  things  for  our  Church.  Already  are  there  many 
interesting  families  inheriting  an  attachment  to  the  Church  of  their 
fathers  to  be  found  along  the  great  highway  leading  through  this 
part  of  Virginia  and  the  West.  At  Wytheville  the  indefatigable 
efforts  of  a  mother  and  daughter  have  raised  a  considerable  sum  of 
money  for  the  erection  of  a  church.  The  tongue  hath  spoken,  the 
pen  hath  written,  and  hands  have  laboured,  in  the  cause,  a.nd  none 
of  them  in  vain.  A  most  eligible  sight,  at  great  cost,  has  been 
obtained,  and  perhaps  great  progress  made  in  the  erection  of  a 
church.  Other  openings,  I  am  told  by  those  who  have  made  recent 
missionary  visits  to  this  upper  valley  of  Virginia,  are  likely  to 
present  themselves.  The  Rev.  Frederick  Goodwin  has  just  settled 
at  Wytheville. 


68  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS.   AND 


ARTICLE  LIIL 
St.  Creorge's  Parish,  Spottsylvania  County. 

I  AM  saved  all  trouble  in  the  examination  of  records  and  docu- 
ments, in  order  to  the  execution  of  this  part  of  my  work,  by  the  full 
and  interesting  history  of  this  parish  from  the  pen  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Slaughter.  His  authorities  are  the  old  vestry-books  and  Henning's 
Statutes. 

The  county  of  Spottsylvania  was  established  in  1720,  being 
taken  from  the  counties  of  Essex,  King  William,  and  King  and 
Queen.  It  extended  westward  to  the  river  beyond  the  high  moun- 
tains^— the  Shenandoah.  The  parish  of  St.  George's  was  then 
commensurate  with  the  county.  In  the  year  1730,  the  parish  was 
divided  into  St,  George's  and  St.  Mark's, — St.  Mark's  lying  in  the 
upper  portion,  which,  in  the  year  1734,  was  made  the  county  of 
Orange,  and  contained  all  that  is  now  Orange,  Madison,  Culpepper, 
and  Rappahannock.  At  the  first  establishment  of  Spottsylvania, 
in  1720,  fifteen  hundred  pounds  were  appropriated  by  the  House 
of  Burgesses  to  a  church,  court-house,  prison,  pillory,  and  stocks. 
Governor  Spottswood,  after  whom  the  county  was  named,  esta- 
blished the  seat  of  justice  at  Germanna,  and  there  built  a  church, 
&c.  In  the  year  1732,  the  seat  of  justice  was,  by  Act  of  Assembly, 
removed  to  Predericksburg,  as  a  more  convenient  place ;  but,  seven- 
teen years  after,  the  law  was  repealed  as  derogatory  to  his  Majesty's 
prerogative  to  take  from  the  Governor  or  Commander-in-Chief  of 
this  Colony  his  power  and  authority  of  removing  or  adjourning  the 
courts  because  it  might  be  inconvenient  in  a  case  of  smallpox  or 
other  contagious  disease.  Predericksburg  was  founded,  by  law,  in 
the  year  1727.  Colonel  Byrd,  in  his  visit  in  the  year  1782,  says 
jf  it  at  this  time,  "  Besides  Colonel  Willis,  who  is  the  top  man 
of  the  place,  there  are  only  one  merchant,  a  tailor,  a  smith,  an 
ordinary-keeper,  and  a  lady  who  acts  both  as  a  doctress  and  coffee- 
woman."  A  church  was  built  in  that  year,  (1732.)  There  had 
been  a  church  near  Fredericksburg  in  the  year  1728,  (as  also  one 
at  Mattapony,)  called  the  Mother-Church,  besides  that  built  at 
Germanna,  by  Governor  Spottswood' s  order,  at  the  first  establish- 
ment of  the  county.  Its  first  minister  of  whom  we  have  any  know- 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  69 

ledge  was  the  Rev.  Theodosius  Staige,  whose  name  is  found  incor* 
porated  with  the  Davis  family,  of  Albemarle,  and  with  some  others, 
I  think.  He  continued  until  November,  1728.  The  Rev.  Mr.  De 
Butts,  of  Westmoreland,  became  a  candidate  for  the  parish ;  but 
the  Rev.  Rodham  Kennor,  having  been  recommended  by  the  Go- 
vernor, was  accepted.  He  continued  the  minister  for  eighteen 
months,  and  then  preached  there  once  a  fortnight  for  more  than 
two  years, — the  Rev.  Mr.  Pearl  occasionally  officiating.  The  Rev. 
Mr.  Kennor  appears  to  have  been  a  rolling  stone, — passing  from 
parish  to  parish, — and  the  vestry  of  St.  George's  were  well  pleased 
to  part  with  him.  In  1732,  the  Rev.  Patrick  Henry,  uncle  of  the 
celebrated  orator,  and  who  was  afterwards,  and  for  a  long  time, 
minister  of  St.  Paul's  parish,  Hanover,  became  the  minister,  and 
continued  until  April,  1734.  Governor  Gooch  sent  a  Rev.  Mr. 
Smith  to  the  parish ;  but  his  preaching  was  so  unacceptable  that 
the  vestry  sent  a  deputation  to  inform  the  Governor  that  they  could 
not  accept  him.  They  also  petitioned  the  Governor  to  allow  the 
Rev.  James  Marye,  who  was  the  minister  of  the  Huguenot  settle- 
ment at  Manakintown,  in  King  William  parish,  then  in  Goochland, 
now  in  Powhatan,  and  who  was  willing  to  come,  to  leave  his  parish. 
He  was  accordingly  inducted  in  October,  1735.  During  his  ministry 
two  chapels  were  built  in  the  parish  at  places  not  now  to  be  identi* 
fied.  Roger  Dixon  was  allowed  to  have  any  pew  in  the  church, 
except  two  already  granted  to  Benjamin  Grymes,  provided  he  did 
not  raise  the  pew  higher  than  the  other  pews.  In  the  year  1767, 
after  a  ministry  of  thirty-two  years  in  this  parish,  Mr.  Marye  died, 
and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  James  Marye,  who  was  born  in 
Goochland,  in  1731,  was  educated  at  William  and  Mary,  and  had 
been  minister  in  Orange  county.  His  father  was  one  of  the  Hu- 
guenots who  fled  from  France  at  the  time  of  the  persecutions  of  the 
Protestants  in  that  country.  He  married  a  Miss  Letitia  Staige,  of 
London,  daughter  of  an  English  clergyman, — perhaps  the  one  who 
was  minister  in  Fredericksburg.  Mr.  Marye,  Jr.  continued  the 
minister  until  1780.  He  was  the  father  of  Mrs.  Dunn,  wife  of  the 
Rev.  John  Dunn,  of  Leesburg,  and  of  Mrs.  Yeamans  Smith,  of 
Fredericksburg.  During  his  ministry  a  new  church,  near  Bur- 
bridge's  Bridge,  was  built,  and  was  used  as  an  Episcopal  Church 
long  after  the  Revolution,  though  now  occupied  by  other  denomi- 
nations. The  parish  also  was  divided  during  his  time,  and  Berkeley 
parish  cut  off  from  it.  The  parish  was  now  vacant  for  seven  years, 
at  the  end  of  which  the  Rev.  Thomas  Thornton  was  chosen  its 
minister.  Under  his  ministry  and  the  voluntary  system,  which  was 


70  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTEBS,    AND 

of  necessity  adopted  after  the  Establishment  was  put  down,  the 
congregation  increased  so  as  to  require  an  addition  to  the  church. 
This  addition  made  it  a  cruciform  church.  It  was,  however,  getting 
to  be  like  an  old  garment  with  new  cloth  put  upon  its  rent.  During 
Mr.  Thornton's  ministry,  General  Washington,  coming  to  Frede- 
ricksburg  to  visit  his  mother,  attended,  as  usual,  the  Episcopal 
Church,  which  drew  such  a  crowd  that  something  gave  way  in  the 
gallery,  which  produced  great  consternation  in  the  attendants,  who 
rushed  out  of  it  through  the  doors  and  windows.  It,  however,  still 
lasted  for  a  number  of  years.  I  was  in  it  in  the  year  1811,  but  a 
more  dark  and  cheerless  place  I  have  seldom  seen.  The  rite  of 
confirmation  was  first  administered  in  this  parish  by  Bishop  Madi- 
son, in  the  year  1791,  during  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Thornton.  Soon 
after  this  Mr.  Thornton  left  the  parish,  and  died  at  Dumfries.  The 
following  obituary,  taken  from  a  paper  of  that  day,  shows  not  only 
that  he  was  a  minister  of  that  parish,  but  also  the  high  esteem  ia 
which  he  was  held : — 

"  Died,  in  Dumfries,  on  the  25th  ultimo,  in  the  76th  year  of  his  age, 
the  Rev.  Thomas  Thornton,  late  rector  of  this  parish.  He  possessed  steady 
faith,  rational  benevolence,  and  unaffected  piety.  With  the  dignity  of 
the  minister  he  associated  the  familiarity  of  the  man,  and  was  truly  an 
ornament  to  human  nature.  In  his  sermons  he  was  accurate  and  persua- 
sive, more  attentive  to  sense  than  to  sound,  to  elevation  of  sentiment  than 
to  loftiness  of  style,  expatiating  on  the  evidences  of  Christianity  when 
infidelity  prevailed,  and  strongly  urging  the  practice  of  Christian  morality 
where  vice  predominated.  His  amiable  qualities  secured  him  universal 
respect,  and  his  death  is  now  the  theme  of  universal  lamentation. " 

A  successor  to  Mr.  Thornton  was  chosen  in  1792,  in  a  way  most 
unusual  in  an  Episcopal  congregation,  and  contrary  to  her  laws, 
except  in  the  case  of  Christ  Church,  Norfolk,  which  is  provided  for 
by  a  special  act.  A  notice  was  given  in  the  old  "  Virginia  Herald" 
inviting  the  subscribers  to  the  Episcopal  church  to  meet  in  the 
town-hall  to  elect  a  clergyman.  On  that  occasion  ninety-six 
votes  were  given  for  the  Rev.  Mr.  Woodville,  and  thirty-four  for 
the  Rev.  Thomas  Davis.  Mr.  Woodville  resigned  the  parish  in 
1793, — the  year  after  his  election, — and  removed  to  St.  Mark's,  Oul- 
pepper,  where  he  lived  until  his  death,  respected  by  all  who  knew 
him. 

On  the  6th  of  January,  1794,  the  people  assembled  in  the  market- 
house,  and  again,  by  a  popular  vote,  unanimously  elected  the  Rev. 
James  Stephenson  their  minister.  Mr.  Stephenson  resigned  in 
1805,  on  account  of  ill  health,  Mr.  Stephenson  married  a  Misa 


FAMILIES  OP  7IRGINL1.  71 

Littlepage,  a  lady  of  fine  intellectual  endowments.  He  was  the 
father  of  the  Hon.  Andrew  Stephenson  and  Mr,  Carter  Stephenson, 
also  of  Mrs.  Woodville. 

In  1806,  the  Rev.  Abner  Waugh  took  charge  of  the  parish,  but 
was  obliged  to  relinquish  it  by  reason  of  ill  health.  Retiring  to 
Hazlewood,  where  he  soon  died,  he  addressed  the  following  letter 
to  his  friends  in  Fredericksburg : — 

"  Impressed  with  a  high  sense  of  their  friendly  regard  and  general  at- 
tention to  him  during  his  residence  and  want  of  health  among  them,  the 
iiev.  Abner  Waugh  begs  them  to  receive  his  acknowledgments.  Loss 
of  health,  and  consequently  loss  of  power  of  being  any  longer  useful,  com- 
pelled him  to  relinquish  his  prospects  in  Fredericksburg.  In  bidding  the 
citizens  farewell,  he  wishes  them,  individually  and  generally,  as  much 
comfort,  ease,  and  happiness  in  this  life  as  may  be  consistent  with  a  more 
exalted  degree  of  happiness  in  the  next." 

In  the  year  1808,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Low  succeeded  Mr.  Waugh 
Mr.  Low  was  a  man  of  gigantic  stature,  stentorian  lungs,  and  for* 
bidding  countenance.  His  powers  of  oratory  were  great.  He  had 
been,  before  his  coming  to  Fredericksburg,  preaching  to  crowds  in 
Norfolk,  Richmond,  and  elsewhere,  on  duelling  and  gambling,  and 
other  special  topics.  Some  of  these  sermons  were  published.  He 
was  at  that  time  living  with  a  woman  who  was  not  his  lawful  wife, 
having  deserted  her  who  was  his  true  wife  and  the  mother  of  his 
children.  It  was  some  time  before  the  news  of  this  reached  Fre- 
dericksburg, and  when  it  did,  lie  solemnly  denied  it  in  the  pulpit. 
The  fact  being  established  beyond  all  doubt,  lie  acknowledged  it  in 
a  letter  to  the  vestry,  which  is  on  record,  and  going  to  the  North, 
obtained  a  divorce  from  his  wife  and  married  the  other.  The  effect 
of  all  this  must  have  been  most  disastrous  to  tie  Church. 

In  the  year  1811,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Strebeck  was  chosen  to  fill  the 
vacancy  occasioned  by  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Low,  but  the  Church* 
was  little  benefited  by  the  change.  Such  was  the  unhappy  con- 
dition of  the  parish,  that  the  people,  In  1813,  were  glad  to  avail 
themselves  of  the  services  of  their  present  minister,  as  lay  reader, 
one  year,  I  believe,  before  he  was  old  enough  to  be  admitted  to 
Deacons'  Orders. 

As  it  has  been  a  rule  observed  by  me  in  these  notices  to  avoid  all 
praises  or  censures  of  the  living,  and  in  the  fewest  possible  words  refer 
to  the  acts  and  successes  even  of  my  oldest  friends,  therefore  to  Mr, 
Slaughter's  account  of  the  revival  of  the  Church  in  this  parish 
during  the  thirty-throe  years  of  Mr.  McGruire's  ministry,  ending 
with  his  history  of  the  parish,  to  which  must  now  be  added  fourteen 


72  OLD    CHUKCHES,   MINISTEBS,  AND 

more,  I  refer  my  readers  for  a  full  view  of  the  subject.  Suffice  it 
to  say  that,  from  that  time,  a  succession  of  revivals,  or  rather  a 
continued  one,  under  faithful  evangelical  preaching,  has  added 
great  numbers  to  the  Church;  that  two  new  churches,  each  in- 
creasing in  size  and  expense,  have  been  called  for ;  that  several 
young  ministers  have  issued  from  the  parish, — among  them  the  Eev. 
Launcelot  Minor,  whose  remains  are  on  the  African  shore,  along- 
side of  those  of  Mrs.  Susan  Savage,  the  devoted  missionary,  whose 
spiritual  birthplace  was  St.  George's  Church,  as  Fredericksburg 
was  that  of  her  other  nativity.  Mr.  McGuire  and  he  who  makes 
this  allusion  entered  the  ministry  at  a  short  interval  apart,  and 
cannot  be  long  separated  in  leaving  it  behind,  for  another  and  we 
trust  higher  ministry,  in  the  presence  of  our  Redeemer. 

Having  done  with  the  ministers  and  churches  of  St.  George's 
parish,  nothing  remains  but  to  present  a  list  of  the  vestrymen  of 
the  same. 

Vestrymen  from  1725  to  1847. 

Augustus  Smith,  William  Grayson,  John  Waller,  Thomas  Chew,  Geo. 
Wheatle,  William  Hansford,  H.  Sharpe,  John  Taliafero,  Francis  Thorn- 
ton, Goodrich  Lightfoot,  Larkin  Chew,  Z.  Lewis,  Hon.  John  Robinson, 
Henry  Beverley,  Ambrose  Grayson,  Henry  Beverley,  Edward  Hickman, 
John  Chew,  F.  Taliafero,  John  Waller,  Jr.,  Wm.  Robinson,  Rice  Curtis, 
William  Batfcaley,  John  Taliafero,  Jr.,  Richard  Tutt,  John  Thornton, 
Rice  Curtis,  Jr.,  William  Waller,  Edward  Herndon,  Robert  Jackson, 
John  Spottswood,  Fielding  Lewis,  Joseph  Brocl?,  Roger  Dixon,  Richard 
Brook,  Charles  Lewis,  Charles  Carter,  John  Lewis,  Charles  Washington, 
William  Dangerfield,  Charles  Dick,  Joseph  Jones,  Edward  Herndon, 
Thomas  Fox,  Lewis  Willis,  Thomas  Colston,  Thomas  Minor,  Michael 
Robinson,  William  Wood,  James  Tutt,  Mann  Page,  George  Thornton, 
Thomas  Strachan,  John  Chew,  John  Steward,  Thomas  Crutcher,  D. 
Branham,  John  Julian,  J.  W.  Willis,  James  Lewis,  G.  Stubblefield, 
Benjamin  Ballard,  Thomas  Sharpe,  John  Legg,  Charles  Mortimer,  Chas. 
TJrquart,  Benjamin  Day,  Francis  Thornton,  Jr.,  George  Weedon,  Edward 
Carter,  R.  B.  Chew,  George  French,  W.  S.  Stone,  John  Herndon,  Thos. 
Strachan,  Edward  Herndon,  Beverley  Stubblefield,  John  Welch,  Edward 
Herndon,  Jr.,  John  Wright,  William  Stanard,  William  Lovell,  Charles 
Gates,  David  Blair,  Samuel  Greenhow,  Fontaine  Maury,  Elisha  Hall, 
James  Brown,  William  Taylor,  John  Chew,  Hugh  Mercer,  Godlove  Heis- 
kell,  Thomas  Goodwin,  William  Smith,  Robert  Patton,  David  Henderson, 
David  C.  Ker,  Jacob  Kuhin,  John  Minor,  Charles  L.  Carter,  William  I. 
Stone,  Benjamin  Botts,  John  Scott,  John  Lewis,  Dabney  Herndon,  John 
Taliafero,  Z.  Lucas,  Robert  Wellford,  James  Sniock,  John  Smith,  Jr., 
William  Bernard,  G.  W.  B  Spooner,  James  Cannichael,  Horace  Marshall, 
Robert  I.  Chew,  Francis  Taliafero,  Robert  Lewis,  Churchill  Jones,  Geo. 
Hamilton,  John  Mundell,  Alexander  F.  Rose,  R.  Johnson,  John  Crump, 
Charles  Austin,  William  A.  Knox,  John  Gray,  R.  T.  Thorn,  John  Hart, 
William  F.  Gray,  William  Storke,  F.  J.  Wyatt,  John  Metcalfe,  John  T. 
Lomax,  H.  0.  Middleton,  Larkin  Johnson,  George  Rotchrock,  Jr.,  Yea- 


FAMILIES    OF    VIRGINIA.  73 

mans  Smith,  Thomas  H.  Hanson,  Archibald  Hart,  W.  M.  Blackford,  G- 
W.  Bassett,  Murray  Forbes,  E.  H.  Carmichael,  Thomas  F.  Knox,  R.  B. 
Manry,  John  Coakley,  James  Cooke,  R.  C.  L.  Moncure,  William  Pollock, 
J.  B.  Ficklin. 

BERKELEY    PARISH,    SPOTTSYLVANIA    COUNTY. 

This  parish  was  taken  from  St.  George's  in  March,  1769—70. 
The  first  minister  was  the  Rev.  James  Stephenson,  who  was  after- 
ward the  minister  of  St.  George's.  As  he  was  ordained  in  London 
in  1768,  and  appears  on  the  lists  of  1773—74—76  as  minister  of 
Berkeley  parish,  it  is  more  than  probable  that  he  was  ordained 
expressly  for  this  parish,  and  became  its  minister  in  1769.  He 
was,  I  believe,  a  citizen  of  Virginia,  and  an  inhabitant  of  Frede- 
ricksburg,  before  his  ordination.  From  the  time  that  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Stephenson  left  it  for  Culpepper,  previous  to  his  removal  to  Wil- 
liamsburg  in  1794,  we  are  unable  to  state  who,  if  any,  was  the 
minister  of  Berkeley  parish,  until  the  year  1789,  when  the  Rev. 
Hugh  Goran  Boggs  appears  on  the  journal  of  Convention.  He 
was  either  ordained  by  some  other  English  Bishop  than  the  Bishop 
of  London,  or  else  by  Bishop  White,  or  some  other  American 
Bishop,  since  Bishop  Madison  was  not  consecrated  until  1790. 
Mr.  Boggs  continued  to  be  the  minister  of  Berkeley  parish  until  his 
death.  Rev.  Mr.  Ward  succeeded  him  in  1837.  The  Rev.  Dabney 
Wharton,  the  present  minister,  succeeded  to  Mr.  Ward  in  1843. 
Two  new  churches  have  been  built  in  this  parish  within  the  last 
year:  one  of  them  is  near  the  court-house,  and  the  other  near  the 
Louisa  line. 


74  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 


ARTICLE  LIV. 
St.  Mark's  Parish,  Oulpepper  Oounty, 

THIS  parish  was  originally  in  Spottsylvania,  when  that  was  the 
frontier  county,  and  was  a  part  of  St.  George's  parish.  The 
vestry-book,  from  whence  I  derive  my  information  concerning  it, 
thus  begins  in  1730: — "In  pursuance  to  an  Act  of  the  General 
Assembly  holden  at  Williamsburg  the  21st  day  of  May,  1730, 
entitled  An  Act  for  dividing  the  parish  of  St.  George,  in  the  county 
of  Spottsylvania,  and  that  all  the  other  parts  of  the  said  parish 
be  known  by  the  name  of  St.  Mark :  according  to  the  said  Act, 
the  freeholders  and  housekeepers  of  the  said  parish  of  St.  Mark 
did  meet  at  the  church  at  Germanna,  in  the  said  parish,  on  the  1st 
day  of  January,  and  there  did  elect  and  choose  twelve  of  the  most 
able  and  discreet  persons  of  their  parish  to  be  vestrymen, — viz. : 
Goodrich  Lightfoot,  Henry  Field,  Francis  Huntley,  William  Peyton, 
James  Barber,  (now  Barbour,)  Robert  Slaughter,  John  Finlason, 
Francis  Slaughter,  Thomas  Staunton,  Benjamin  Cave,  Robert  Green, 
Samuel  Ball."  Robert  Slaughter  and  Francis  Slaughter  were  the 
first  churchwardens,  William  Peyton  clerk,  and  William  Peyton, 
William  Philips,  and  John  MacMath  were  continued  lay  readers 
at  the  several  churches  and  chapels  they  formerly  read  at. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  vestry  in  March,  1731,  the  church  at 
Germanna  is  ordered  to  be  repaired  and  the  roof  tarred ;  the  Fork 
Chapel  and  the  Mountain  Chapel  ordered  to  be  swept  and  kept 
clean.  Three  houses  of  worship  are  recognised  as  being  in  use 
before  the  division,  that  at  Germanna  being  the  church,  the  others 
the  chapels.  The  church  seems  to  have  required  repairs.  This 
was  doubtless  the  house  built  by  Governor  Spottswood  for  the 
German  settlers,  who,  like  the  Huguenots  on  James  River,  had 
been  patronized  by  Government  and  allowed  certain  immunities.* 
By  this  time,  however,  they  had  removed  higher  up  the  river,  into 
what  is  now  Madison  county.  Colonel  Byrd,  in  his  visit  to  General 
Spottswood  in  1732,  speaking  of  Germanna,  says,  "  This  famous 


*  Germanna  was  so  called  after  this  settlement  by  the  Germans,  as  Spottsyl* 
vania  was  so  called  after  Governo^  Spottswood. 


FAMILIES    OF    VIRGINIA.  75 

town  consists  of  Colonel  Spottswood's  enchanted  castle  DU  one  side 
of  tlie  street  and  a  baker's  dozen  of  ruinous  tenements  on  the 
other,  where  so  many  German  families  had  dwelt  some  years  ago, 
but  are  now  removed  some  ten  miles  higher  up  the  Fork  of  Rappa- 
hannock,  to  land  of  their  own.  There  had  also  been  a  chapel  about 
a  bow-shot  from  the  Colonel's  house,  at  the  end  of  an  avenue  of 
cherry-trees,  but  some  pious  people  had  lately  burnt  it  down,  with 
intent  to  have  one  built  nearer  to  their  own  homes/'  Mr.  Byrd's 
writings  being  full  of  such  remarks,  we  may  conclude  that  he  does 
not  always  expect  us  to  receive  them  as  historical  verities.  NO 
doubt  the  locality  of  the  church  was  inconvenient,  and  many  did 
not  lament  its  destruction,  as  another  would  be  built  nearer  to  the 
body  of  the  congregation. 

Before  we  proceed  further  in  the  history  of  this  parish,  it  may 
be  well  to  state  what  information  we  have  in  relation  to  this  German 
settlement  which  Governor  Spottswood  had  cherished  on  his  estate 
at  Germanna,  which  estate,  it  is  said,  was  only  a  part  of  a  tract 
of  forty-five  thousand  acres  on  which  he  worked  a  number  of  iron- 
ore  furnaces.  From  the  letter-book  of  the  Venerable  Society  in 
England  for  Propagating  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,  we  obtain 
the  following  document,  headed — 

CASE    OF   THE   GERMAN  FAMILIES  IN   THE   TEAR   1720. 

"  The  case  of  thirty-two  Protestant  German  families  settled  in  Virginia 
humbly  showeth : — That  twelve  Protestant  German  families,  consisting  of 
about  fifty  persons,  arrived  April  17th,  in  Virginia,  and  were  therein 
settled  near  the  Rappahannock  River.  That  in  1717  seventeen  Protestant 
German  families,  consisting  of  about  fourscore  persons,  came  and  set 
down  near  their  countrymen.  And  many  more,  both  German  and  Swiss 
families,  are  likely  to  come  there  and  settle  likewise.  That  for  the  enjoy- 
ment of  the  ministries  of  religion,  there  will  be  a  necessity  of  building  a 
small  church  in  the  place  of  their  settlement,  and  of  maintaining  a  minis- 
ter, who  shall  catechize,  read,  and  perform  divine  offices  among  them  in 
the  German  tongue,  which  is  the  only  language  they  do  yet  understand. 
That  there  went  indeed  with  the  first  twelve  German  families  one  minis- 
ter, named  Henry  Hoeger,  a  very  sober,  honest  man,  of  about  seventy-five 
years  of  age;  but  he  being  likely  to  be  past  service  in  a  short  time,  they 
have  empowered  Mr.  Jacob  Christophe  Zollicoffer,  of  St.  Gall,  in  Switzer- 
land, to  go  into  Europe  and  thereto  obtain,  if  possible,  some  contributions 
from  pious  and  charitable  Christians  toward  the  building  of  their  church, 
and  bringing  over  with  him  a  young  German  minister  to  assist  the  said  Mr. 
Hceger  in  the  ministry  of  religion,  and  to  succeed  him  when  he  shall 
die ;  to  get  him  ordained  in  England  by  the  Right  Rev.  Lord-Bishop 
of  London,  and  to  bring  over  with  him  the  Liturgy  of  the  Church  of 
England  translated  into  High  Dutch,  which  they  are  desirous  to  use 
in  the  public  worship.  But  this  new  settlement  consisting  of  but  mean 


76  OLD  CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

persons,  being  utterly  unaJe  of  tu^  -jsewes  both  to  build  a  church  and 
to  make  up  a  salary  sufficient  to  maintain  such  assisting  minister,  they 
humbly  implore  the  countenance  and  encouragement  of  the  Lord-Bishop 
of  London  and  others,  the  Lords,  the  Bishops,  as  also  the  Venerable 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,  that  they 
would  take  their  case  under  their  pious  consideration  and  grant  their  usual 
allowance  for  the  support  of  a  minister,  and,  if  it  may  be,  to  contribute 
something  toward  the  building  of  their  church. 

"And  they  shall  ever  pray  that  God  may  reward  their  beneficence  both 
here  and  hereafter.'7 

Whether  they  did  succeed  in  their  effort,  and  how  long  after  this 
they  continued  at  Germanna,  and  what  was  their  history  after  their 
removal,  we  are  not  able  to  state.  One  thing  we  have  ascertained 
from  one  of  the  oldest  men  now  living  in  Oulpepper, — that  within 
his  recollection,  their  descendants,  when  without  a  Lutheran  minis- 
ter, would  come  a  long  distance  to  receive  the  sacrament  from  an 
Episcopal  minister  at  Buckrun  Church,  not  many  miles  from  Oulpep- 
per Court-House.  It  is  very  certain  that  at  one  time  they  had  a  large 
church,  a  flourishing  congregation,  a  fine  organ,  and  good  music. 

In  passing  on  to  our  notice  of  the  churches  and  ministers  of 
St.  Mark's,  we  cannot  but  express  some  surprise  at  not  finding  the 
name  of  General  Spottswood  among  those  of  the  vestry,  although 
it  is  mentioned  in  the  vestry-book,  as  he  always  appeared  while 
Governor  to  be  much  interested  in  Church  affairs.  It  may  be  that, 
as  he  lived  on  the  outskirts  of  the  parish,  and  the  new  church 
was  now  removed  so  far  from  him,  he  declined  an  active  part  in 
its  concerns.  In  a  few  years  after  this  he  died.  His  widow  and 
children  continued  to  live  at  Germanna,  and  were  within  the  pas- 
toral charge  of  its  ministers.  We  shall  see  hereafter  that  Mrs. 
Spottswood  became  the  wife  of  one  of  them. 

Previous  to  the  year  1728,  we  ascertain  that  a  Rev.  Mr.  Staige 
had  officiated  at  Germanna,  and  after  him  a  Rev.  Rodham  Kennor. 
Between  the  years  1731  and  1733  we  find  a  Rev.  Mr.  De  Butts  and 
a  Rev.  Mr.  Pruit  often  preaching  in  St.  Mark's,  but  neither  of 
them  was  elected.  In  May,  1733,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Beckett  was  regu- 
larly elected  and  continued  minister  until  the  year  1739. 

In  the  year  1732,  the  vestry  built  a  church  at  the  Two  Springs, 
on  the  Germanna  Road,  at  the  cost  of  thirty-six  thousand- weight 
of  tobacco.  In  the  year  1633,  the  choice  of  a  pew  in  the  new 
church  is  offered  to  Colonel  Spottswood.  In  the  same  year  twenty- 
seven  thousand  pounds  of  tobacco  are  voted  for  building  a  new 
church  in  the  Southwest  Mountains;  also,  another,  " twenty  feet 
square,  near  Batley's  Quarter,  where  David  Cave  be  lay  reader/ 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  77 

hi  the  year  1735,  a  chapel  is  ordered  between  Shaw's  Mountain 
and  the  Devil's  Run.  Ordered  the  same  year  "that  the  ministers 
preach  as  the  law  directs  at  every  church  and  chapel." 

In  the  year  1739  we  find  the  following  order : — "  That  the  church- 
wardens agree  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  McDaniel,  if  he  please  to  serve 
the  parish,  and  if  not,  some  other  minister,  except  Mr.  Beckett/' 
From  something  on  the  vestry-book  a  year  or  two  before,  there 
would  seem  to  have  been  a  serious  cause  of  complaint  against  Mr. 
Beckett.  In  the  year  following — 1740 — the  Rev.  John  Thompson 
comes,  recommended  by  Governor  Gooch,  and  is  accepted.  In  this 
year  also  the  parish  of  St.  Mark,  which  was  still  in  the  county  of 
Orange,  was  divided,  and  St.  Thomas  formed  out  of  it.  Mr.  James 
Barber  and  William  Cave  being  in  the  new  parish  of  St.  Thomas, 
Mr.  William  Triplett  and  William  Russell  were  chosen  in  their  room. 
Mr.  John  Catlett  had  been  previously  added  to  the  vestry  in  place 
of  one  deceased.  The  estimate  in  which  Mr.  Thompson  was  held 
appears  at  once  by  the  increased  attention  paid  to  the  glebe-houses. 
In  the  year  1741,  Mrs.  Spottswood  presents  a  velvet  pulpit  cloth 
and  cushion  to  the  church,  and  Goodrich  Lightfoot  is  chosen  vestry- 
man in  place  of  Thomas  Stanton,  deceased.  In  1742,  a  church 
was  resolved  on  in  Tenant's  old  field.  In  the  year  1743,  an  addi- 
tion of  twenty-four  feet  square  is  ordered  to  the  Fork  Church.  In 
1746,  Benjamin  Roberts  and  Philip  Clayton  appear  on  the  vestry. 
In  the  year  1747,  'Robert  Slaughter,  Jr.  is  appointed  vestryman 
in  place  of  W.  Finlason,  deceased,  and  William  Green  in  place  of 
Robert  Green,  deceased.  In  the  year  1750,  a  chapel  is  ordered  at 
the  Little  Fork,  where  an  old  chapel  stood.  In  the  year  1751,  Abra- 
ham  Field  is  on  the  vestry,  also  Thomas  Slaughter  in  place  of 
Robert  Slaughter,  Jr.,  who  removed  out  of  the  parish,  and  James 
Pendleton  in  place  of  Samuel  Ball,  deceased.  In  1744,  large  addi- 
tions are  made  to  the  glebe-houses.  In  1752,  Bloomfield  parish 
cut  off  from  St.  Mark's,  and  services  at  the  court-house  instead 
of  at  Tenant's  Church.  In  1752,  Thomas  Stubblefield  and  John 
Hackley  on  the  vestry.  In  1752,  the  site  of  the  new  chapel,  which 
was  ordered  on  the  Little  Fork,  is  changed  to  one  in  Freeman's  old 
field,  and  to  be  called  a  church.  In  the  same  year, — 1752, — a  church 
ordered  on  Buckrun  upon  Colonel  Spottswood's  land,  to  cost  fifty- 
four  thousand  pounds  of  tobacco.  Some  leaves  being  torn  out,  the 
next  meeting  of  the  vestry  is  in  1757, — Mr.  Thompson  still  the 
minister.  Nathaniel  Pendleton  and  James  Pendleton  are  each  clerk 
of  one  of  its  churches.  In  1758,  Thomas  Slaughter  and  Anthony 
Garnet  elected  vestrymen.  In  1760,  an  addition  ordered  to  the 


78  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

Little  Fork  Church,  thirty-two  by  twenty-two  feet.  Willianc 
Williams  vestryman  in  1761.  In  the  year  1768,  William  Ball  ves- 
tryman in  place  of  James  Pendleton,  deceased.  Henry  Field,  Jr., 
in  place  of  Henry  Field,  Sen.,  resigned.  In  the  year  1764,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Thompson  obtained  leave  to  build  a  gallery  in  the  church 
(that  nearest  Germanna)  for  the  use  of  his  family  and  friends.  In 
the  year  1766,  Samuel  Clayton  vestryman  in  place  of  Philip  Clayton, 
resigned.  In  1768,  Buckrun  Church  enlarged.  In  the  year  1770, 
the  old  glebe  sold  to  Samuel  Henning,  and  Mr.  Henning  allowed 
to  build  a  pew  in  the  gallery  of  Buckrun  Church.  Cadwallader 
Slaughter  chosen  vestryman,  and  John  Green  in  place  of  William 
Green,  deceased.  In  the  same  year  new  glebe  of  three  hundred  acres 
bought  of  Francis  Slaughter  for  one  hundred  and  ninety-nine  pounds 
and  ten  thousand-weight  of  tobacco.  In  1771,  Philip  Pendleton  ap- 
pointed clerk  of  the  vestry  in  place  of  William  Peyton,  deceased.  He 
was  also  lay  reader,  as  two  others  of  the  name  had  been,  and  others 
have  been  since  elsewhere.  In  the  same  year  French  Strother  and 
John  Gray  vestrymen,  in  place  of  Goodrich  Lightfoot,  resigned,  and 
Henry  Field,  removed.  Another  addition  to  the  Little  Fork  Church 
of  the  same  dimensions  with  the  last.  In  1772,  a  glebe-house  ordered, 
forty-eight  feet  long  by  thirty-two, — eight  rooms, — for  thirty-five 
thousand  nine  hundred  weight  of  tobacco.  In  the  midst  of  these 
preparations  for  the  comfortable  entertainment  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Thompson,  his  labours  were  ended  by  death,  after  a  ministry  of  thirty- 
two  years  of  uninterrupted  harmony  with  his  parishioners,  and  of  la- 
borious duty  in  a  most  extensive  parish.  Judging  from  the  number 
of  churches  and  chapels,  and  their  frequent  enlargement,  and  the 
benches  we  read  of  as  placed  at  the  doors,  he  must  have  been  a  most 
acceptable  minister.  His  is  one  case  added  to  a  number  which  might 
be  adduced,  from  the  vestry-books,  in  proof  that  where  the  minister 
is  faithful  to  his  duty  the  people  do  not  wish  to  exchange  him. 
Some  few  exceptions  doubtless  there  were.  Of  so  exemplary  a 
man  as  Mr.  Thompson  the  reader  will  desire  to  know  as  much  as 
can  be  furnished.  Mr.  Thompson  was  from  Scotland,  and  took  the 
degree  of  Master  of  Arts  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh.  On 
the  28th  of  October,  1739,  he  received  Deacons'  Orders  in  Duke 
Street  Chapel,  in  the  parish  of  Westminster,  from  the  hands  of 
Nicholas,  the  Bishop  of  St,  David's.  On  the  4th  of  November  of 
the  same  year,  he  received  Priests*  Orders  from  the  same  Bishop 
in  the  Chapel  of  St.  James,  within  the  palace  royal  of  St.  James 
of  Westminster.  On  the  following  year  we  find  him  settled  as 
minister  in  St.  Mark's  parish,  where  he  continued  until  his  death, — 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  79 

knowing,  as  a  minister,  one  only  love.  On  the  9th  of  November, 
1742,  he  married  the  widow  of  Governor  Spottswood,  who  was  one 
of  his  parishioners  and  living  at  Geraanna.  By  this  marriage  he 
had  two  children,  Ann  Thompson,  who  was  born  at  Germanna,  in 
1744,  and  married  Mr.  Francis  Thornton,  of  Fall  Hill*  near 
Fredericksburg,  at  the  early  age  of  fifteen  years,  eight  months. 
The  other  is  Mr.  William  Thompson,  of  whom  I  have  as  yet  received 
no  certain  information.  In  the  year  1760,  Mr.  Thompson  mar- 
ried a  second  wife,  Miss  Elizabeth  Roots,  by  whom  he  had  three 
children, — Mildred  Thompson,  John  Thompson,  and  Philip  Roots 
Thompson.  The  last  married  the  daughter  of  old  Mr.  R.  Slaugh- 
ter, one  of  the  vestrymen  of  that  name  in  St.  Mark's  parish,  and 
moved  many  years  since  to  Kanawha,  where  his  descendants  for 
the  last  forty  years  have  formed  a  little  congregation  of  zealous 
Episcopalians. 

But  although  Mr.  Thompson  was  so  good  and  amiable  a  man, 
and,  as  tradition  informs  us,  one  of  the  most  imposing  of  men  in  his 
person,  he  did  not  easily  succeed  in  securing  his  first  wife,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  family  pride  of  the  children,  which  objected  to  the 
union  of  the  widow  of  Governor  Spottswood  with  a  minister  of  the 
Gospel.  Such  was  the  opposition  that,  after  an  engagement,  she 
begged  to  be  released.  This  caused  the  following  letter,  which  all 
must  agree  is  a  masterpiece  of  its  kind.  Its  effect  has  already 
been  told  in  the  fact  of  their  marriage  in  a  few  months.  An  entire 
reconciliation  of  all  parties,  however,  was  not  effected  until  many 
years  after,  by  the  intervention  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Rose,  the  friend 
and  executor  of  Governor  Spottswood,  as  I  have  said  elsewhere. 

Copy  of  a  Letter  from  the  Rev.  John  Thompson  to  Lady  Spottswood. 

"  MAD  AM: — By  diligently  perusing  your  letter,  I  perceive  there  is  a 
material  argument,  which  I  ought  to  have  answered,  upon  which  your 
Strongest  objection  against  completing  my  happiness  would  seem  to  depend, 
viz. :  That  you  would  incur  ye  censures  of  y*  world  for  marrying  a  pel-son  of  my 
station  and  character.  By  which  I  understand  that  you  think  it  a  diminution 
of  your  honour  and  ye  dignity  of  your  family  to  marry  a  person  in  ye  station 
of  a  clergyman.  Now,  if  I  can  make  it  appear  that  y*  ministerial  office  is 
an  employment  in  its  nature  ye  most  honourable,  and  in  its  effects  y*  most 
beneficial  to  mankind,  I  hope  your  objections  will  immediately  vanish,  y: 
you  will  keep  me  no  longer  in  suspense  and  misery,  but  consummate  my 
happiness. 

"I  make  no  doubt,  madam,  but  yfc  you  will  readily  grant  f  no^  man 
can  be  employed  in  any  work  more  honourable  than  what  .immediately 
relates  to  yc  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords,  and  to  y*  salvation  of 
souls,  immortal  in  their  nature,  and  redeemed  by  ye  blood  of  the  Son  of 
God,  The  powers  committed  to  their  care  cannot  be  exercised  by  y1 
greatest  princes  of  earth;  and  it  is  ye  same  work  in  kind,  and  ye  same  ir 


SO  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

f  design  of  it,  with  y*  of  ye  blessed  Angels,  who  are  ministering  spirits 
for  those  who  shall  be  heirs  of  salvation.  It  is  je  same  business  y*  ye  Son 
of  God  discharged  when  he  condescended  to  dwell  amongst  men.  Which 
engages  men  In  je  greatest  acts  of  doing  good,  in  turning  sinners  from  ya 
errors  of  their  ways,  and,  by  all  wise  and  prudent  means,  in  gaining  souls 
unto  God.  And  the  faithful  and  diligent  discharge  of  this  holy  function 
gives  a  title  to  ye  highest  degree  of  glory  in  the  next  world;  for  they  yl  be 
wise  shall  shine  as  ye  brightness  of  ye  firmament,  and  they  y*  turn  many 
to  righteousness  as  y°  stars  forever  and  ever. 

"All  nations,  whether  learned  or  ignorant,  whether  civil  or  barbarous, 
have  agreed  in  this  as  a  dictate  of  natural  reason,  to  express  their  reve- 
rence for  the  Deity,  and  their  affection  to  religion,  by  bestowing  extraor- 
dinary privileges  of  honour  upon  such  as  administer  in  holy  things,  and 
by  providing  liberally  for  their  maintenance.  And  that  the  honour  due 
to  the  holy  function  flows  from  ye  law  of  nature  appears  from  hence, — yfc  in 
ye  earliest  times  y45  civil  and  sacred  authority  were  united  in  ye  same  person. 
Thus  Melehisedeck  was  King  and  Priest  of  Salem ;  and  among  ye  Egyp- 
tians ye  priesthood  was  joined  with  ye  crown.  Ye  Greeks  accounted  y8 
priesthood  of  equal  dignity  with  kingship,  which  is  taken  notice  of  by 
Aristotle  in  several  places  of  his  Politicks.  And  among  the  Latins  we 
have  a  testimony  from  Virgil  y*  at  ye  same  time  Anias  was  both  priest  and 
king.  Nay,  Moses  himself,  who  was  Prince  of  Israel,  before  Aaron  was 
consecrated,  officiated  as  priest  in  y*  solemn  sacrifice  by  which  ye  covenant 
with  Israel  was  confirmed.  And  ye  primitive  Christians  always  expressed 
a  mighty  value  and  esteem  for  their  clergy,  as  plainly  appears  from  eccle- 
siastical history.  And  even  in  our  days,  as  bad  as  ye  world  is,  those  of 
ye  clergy  who  live  up  to  ye  dignity  of  their  profession  are  generally  reve- 
renced and  esteemed  by  all  religious  and  well-disposed  men. 

"  Prom  all  which  it  evidently  appears  y*  in  all  ages  and  nations  of  ya 
world,  whether  Jews,  Heathens,  or  Christians,  great  honour  and  dignity 
has  been  always  conferred  upon  ye  clergy.  And,  therefore,  dear  madam, 
from  hence  you  may  infer  how  absurd  and  ridiculous  those  gentlemen's 
notions  are  who  would  fain  persuade  you  y*  marrying  with  ye  clergy  you 
would  derogate  from  ye  honour  and  dignity  of  your  family.  Whereas  in 
strict  reasoning  the  contrary  thereof  would  rather  appear,  and  yfc  it  would 
Tery  much  tend  to  support  ye  honour  and  dignity  of  it.  Of  this  I  hope 
you  will  be  better  convinced  when  you  consider  the  titles  of  honour  and 
respect  y1  are  given  to  those  who  are  invested  with  ye  ministerial  function 
as  amply  displayed  in  ye  Scriptures.  Those  invested  with  y*  character  are 
called  ye  ministers  of  Christ,  stewards  of  ye  mysteries  of  God,  to  whom 
they  have  committed  ye  word  of  reconciliation,  ye  glory  of  Christ,  ambas- 
sadors for  Christ  in  Christ's  stead,  co-workers  with  him7  angels  of  ye 
Churches.  And  then  it  is  moreover  declared  y*  whosoever  despiseth  them 
despiseth  not  man  but  God.  All  which  titles  shew  y*  upon  many  accounts 
they  stand  called,  appropriated,  and  devoted  to  God  himself.  And,  there- 
fore, if  a  gentleman  of  this  sacred  and  honourable  character  should  be 
married  to  a  lady,  though  of  y*  greatest  extraction  and  most  excellent 
personal  qualities,  (which  I  am  sensible  you  are  endowed  with,)  it  can  be 
no  disgrace  to  her  nor  her  family,  nor  draw  ye  censures  of  ye  world  upon 
them  for  such  an  action.  And  therefore,  dear  madam,  your  argument 
being  refuted,  you  can  no  longer  consistently  refuse  to  consummate  my 
happiness.  JOHN  THOMPSON 

•<  May,  1742.'' 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  81 

While  we  entirely  agree  with  all  that  is  written  above  as  to  the 
respectability  of  the  ministry,  we  would  caution  against  an  ill  use 
that  is  sometimes  made  of  the  principle  advocated  by  Mr.  Thomp- 
son. No  matter  how  high  the  birth,  how  complete  the  education, 
of  a  lady,  if  she  be  truly  pious,  humble,  and  devoted  to  good  works, 
she  may  be  a  suitable  helpmate  to  a  minister ;  but  it  is  not  often 
that  one  very  delicately  brought  up  in  the  higher  walks  of  life  can 
accommodate  herself  to  the  circumstances  of  many  of  the  clergy. 
As  to  those  who  are  born  to  large  fortune,  let  the  ministers  of  re- 
ligion rather  avoid  than  seek  them  as  companions,  taking  warning 
from  the  many  unhappy  failures  which  have  resulted  from  such 
experiments. 

We  now  proceed  with  the  history  of  the  parish.  After  employ- 
ing the  Rev.  Charles  Woodmason  for  a  short  time,  the  vestry  elected 
the  Rev.  Edward  Jones,  of  Carolina,  and  had  him  inducted, — a  thing 
of  rare  occurrence.  In  this  year  Mr.  John  Waugh  is  chosen  vestry- 
man. In  the  year  1773,  it  appearing  that  no  convenient  place, 
having  water,  could  be  found  on  the  land  purchased  for  a  glebe,  the 
vestry  obtained  one  hundred  more,  at  a  cost  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds,  from  Mr.  Francis  Slaughter.  One  of  the  churches 
being  burned  that  year,  the  vestry  determined  to  build  one  forty  by 
sixty  of  wood,  on  Mr.  Robert  Freeman's  or  Peter  Bowman's  land. 
This  order  being  reconsidered,  it  was  resolved  to  build  one  eighty 
feet  by  thirty,  of  brick,  on  the  land  of  Peter  Bowman.  In  this  year 
Captain  Richard  Yancey  was  vestryman  in  the  place  of  Major  John 
Green,  who  had  entered  the  Continental  service.  In  the  year  1778, 
the  vestry  recommend  subscriptions  for  paying  the  officers  of  the 
church.  In  the  same  year  Biskett  Davenport  vestryman  in  place 
of  William  Williams,  deceased.  In  February,  1780,  Mr.  Jones  re- 
signed the  parish,  and  the  vestry  advertised  it.*  Mr.  John  Gray 
resigned  his  seat,  Robert  Pollard  chosen  vestryman.  In  April, 
1780,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Stephenson  was  elected.  The  last  meeting  re- 
corded in  the  vestry-book  is  in  1784.  On  the  journal  of  the  Con- 
vention in  1796,  Mr.  Stephenson  appears  as  the  minister  of  St 
George's  Church,  Fredericksburg,  and  Mr.  Woodville  as  from  St. 
Mark's  parish,  they  having  changed  places,  as  Mr.  Woodville  had 
been  the  minister  of  St.  George's.  Mr.  Woodville  had  married  the 
daughter  of  Mr.  Stephenson,  who  was  also  the  father  of  Mr.  An- 
drew Stephenson,  our  late  minister  to  England,  and  of  Mr.  Carter 


*  The  Rev.  Mr.  Iredell  also  officiated  for  a  time  in  this  parish,  but  was  a  disgrace 
to  the  ministry. 
VOL.  IL— 8 


S2  OLD   CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,   AND 

Stephenson,  who  died  some  years  since  in  Frederieksburg.  With 
Mr.  Woodville  I  became  well  acquainted  soon  after  my  entrance  on 
the  ministry,  being  often  at  his  house  (the  glebe)  in  Culpepper, 
where  he  connected  a  school  with  the  ministry,  both  of  which  he 
conducted  in  the  most  conscientious  manner,  being  himself  a  man 
of  unblemished  character.  His  son  James  became  a  lawyer  of  dis- 
tinction in  Botetourt  county,  and  his  son  Walker  has  for  many 
years  been  supplying  some  parts  of  his  father's  old  parish.  With 
his  wife  and  two  daughters,  Fanny  and  Sarah,  I  became  intimately 
acquainted,  and  with  purer  spirits  I  do  not  expect  to  be  acquainted 
on  this  side  of  heaven.  The  former  has  long  since  gone  to  her  rest. 
The  two  latter — Fanny,  who  married  Mr.  Payne,  and  is  the  mother 
of  a  numerous  offspring,  and  Sarah,  who  is  unmarried,  and  lives 
with  her — are  residing  in  Mississippi.  I  often  hear  from  them,  and 
rejoice  to  know  that  they  still  love  Virginia  and  the  old  Church  of 
Virginia.  I  cannot  take  leave  of  old  St.  Mark's  parish  and  vestry 
without  a  brief  reference  to  those  who  once  composed  them, — the 
Spottswoods,  Slaughters,  Pendletons,  Fields,  Lightfoots,  Barbers, 
Greens,  Peytons,  Caves,  Balls,  Williamses,  Strothers,  Knoxes, 
Stephenses,  Watkinses,  and  others,  who  amidst  all  the  adversities 
of  the  Church  have  been  faithful  to  her.  Others  have  followed  in 
their  path,— the  Thompsons,  Carters,  Randolphs,  Winstons,  Mor- 
tons, Stringfellows,  Cunninghams,  Thorns,  and  others ;  but  death, 
removals,  and  other  circumstances,  have  sadly  hindered  her  pro- 
gress. Perhaps  no  part  of  Virginia  has  suffered  more  in  this  way 
than  the  county  of  Culpepper. 

As  I  am  writing  of  the  past  for  the  gratification  and  benefit  of 
the  present,  and  not  of  the  present  for  the  use  of  the  future,  I  can 
despatch  the  remaining  history  of  St.  Marks  in  a  few  words.  Soon 
after  the  resuscitation  of  the  Church  of  Virginia  commenced,  a  new 
church,  called  St.  Stephen's,  at  Culpepper  Court-House,  was  esta- 
blished within  the  bounds  of  St.  Mark's  parish,  and  the  Eev.  Wil- 
liam Hawley  appears  on  the  journal  during  the  years  1814  and 
1815  as  the  minister.  He  laboured  and  preached  zealously  there 
and  in  Orange,  and  with  much  effect.  He  was  followed  by  Mr. 
Herbert  Marshall,  who  for  some  years  laboured  faithfully  and 
successfully.  In  the  /ear  1827,  the  Eev.  George  A.  Smith  com* 
menced  service  and  continued  it  for  several  years.  The  Rev. 
Annesley*  Stewart  performed  some  duty  there  after  Mr.  Smith's 
removal. 

The  Eev.  John  Cole  has  now  for  a  long  term  of  years  been 
minister  in  Culpepper.  Previously  to  his  coming  a  new  church 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  83 

had  been  built  a,t  Culpepper  Court-House,  and  since  Ms  settlement 
in  the  parish  two  new  ones  have  been  built  on  opposite  sides  of  the 
county,  near  each  branch  of  the  Rappahannock,  while  the  old  brick 
church  in  Forke  is  still  remaining.  A  comfortable  parsonage  hag 
also  been  provided  for  the  minister. 


t*4  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 


ARTICLE  LV. 
Orange  County. — St.  Thomas  Parish. 

[The  Bishop  is  indebted  for  the  following  communication  to  the  pen  and 
labours  of  its  present  minister,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Earnest.] 

THE  county  of  Orange  (embracing  St.  Mark's  parish)  was  sepa- 
rated from  Spottsylvania  in  the  year  1734.  It  was  "  bounden  south- 
erly by  the  line  of  Hanover  county,  northerly  by  the  grant  of  the* 
Lord  Fairfax,  and  westerly  by  the  utmost  limits  of  Virginia."  In 
1740,  "for  the  convenience  of  the  minister  and  the  people,"  the 
parish  of  St.  Mark's  was  divided.  The  southerly  portion,  including 
a  part  of  what  is  now  Madison  county,  was  called  St. Thomas  parish, 
and  its  western  limits  were  somewhat  reduced.  St.  George's  parish, 
Spottsylvania,  of  which  St.  Thomas  was  a  part,  had  for  its  western 
boundary  "the  river  beyond  the  high  mountains:"  the  summit  of 
the  Blue  Ridgebeingmadethewestern  limit  of  St.  Thomas  parish. 

Before  the  days  of  the  Revolution  St.  Thomas  parish  had  within 
its  limits  three  churches, — viz. :  The  Pine  Stake  Church,  the  Middle 
or  Brick  Church,  and  the  Orange  Church.  The  two  former  have 
disappeared  entirely, — although  both  were  standing  and  in  tolerably 
good  keeping  within  time  of  memory.  The  last  named,  and  the 
oldest  of  the  three,  situated  near  Ruckersville,  a  small  village  about 
eighteen  miles  from  Orange  Court-House,  in  what  is  now  the  county 
of  Green,  is  still  standing,  though  it  has  long  ceased  to  be  used  as 
a  place  of  worship  by  an  Episcopal  congregation.  It  was  for  a  long 
while  in  the  occupancy  of  the  Methodists.  The  old  church,  which 
is  of  wood,  has  undergone  so  many  repairs  since  the  time  it  was 
built,  that  it  is  thought,  like  the  old  frigate  Constitution,  little  if 
any  of  the  original  timber  is  to  be  found  in  it.  As  I  passed  it 
some  years  since,  for  the  first  time,  curiosity — rather  I  may  say 
veneration  for  the  ancient  house  of  God — led  me  to  stop  and  take 
&  near  view;  but  my  heart  was  saddened  to  see  this  relic  of  former 
tunes  so  far  gone  into  dilapidation  as  to  be  wholly  unfit  for  the 
sacred  purposes  for  which  it  was  set  apart.  Here  old  Major  Burton, 
a  staunch  patriot  and  as  staunch  a  Churchman,  who  had  served  his 
country  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  continued  for  a  long  while 
in  the  absence  of  the  regular  ministry  to  serve  the  church  as  a  lav 
reader 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  %5 

This  church,  though  the  oldest  of  these  three  Colonial  churches, 
was  not  the  first  in  point  of  time  that  was  erected  within  this  parish. 
The  first  church  that  was  built  in  the  parish  was  situated  about  ten 
miles  northwest  of  Orange  Court-House,  on  a  portion  of  land  now 
owned  by  Mr.  Robert  Brooking.  The  country  adjacent  was  doubt- 
less sacred  ground  with  the  aborigines  long  anterior  to  the  dis- 
covery of  America;  for  but  a  short  distance  from  this  " church  In 
the  wilderness,"  upon  the  right  bank  of  the  Rapidan  River,  is 
yet  to  be  seen  an  ancient  mound,  or  burial-place  of  the  Indians, 
Here,  as  the  waters  of  this  rapid  stream  lave  its  banks,  there  are 
often  exposed  to  view  the  bones  of  the  mighty  dead, — bones  whose 
giant  size  indicate  that  a  race  of  men  hardy,  athletic,  and  powerful 
once  inhabited  this  fertile  region. 

At  what  period  of  time  this  first  "  Orange  Church"  was  built,  we 
have  it  not  in  our  power  exactly  to  verify.  We  have  been  told  that 
it  was  frequented  as  a  place  of  worship  by  some  of  the  old  settlers 
as  early  as  1723.  Certain  it  is,  that  it  was  used  as  such  in  1740, — 
the  year  in  which  St.  Thomas  was  formed  into  a  separate  parish. 
The  winter  of  this  year  wa,s  noted  in  this  region  for  its  exceedingly 
great  severity.  The  degree  of  cold  was  so  intense  that  several  of 
the  early  planters  determined  on  seeking  a  more  genial  climate 
farther  south,  and  accordingly  purchased  lands  in  North  Carolina. 
At  that  time  an  old  Scotch  minister  of  the  Episcopal  Church, 
whose  name  I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain,  but  who  it  seems  was 
fond  of  good  cheer  and  a  game  of  cards,  officiated  regularly  at 
this  church.  He  resided  with  Mr.  Benjamin  Cave,  Sen.,  a  first 
settler,  whose  residence  was  but  a  short  distance  from  where  the 
old  church  stood.  Subsequently,  as  the  settlements  advanced  west- 
ward, the  old  church  was  removed  about  eight  miles  distant  to  the 
place  where  its  remains  are  still  standing. 

The  Middle  or  Brick  Church  was  situated  about  three  miles  south- 
east of  Orange  Court-House,  on  the  old  road  leading  to  Fredericks- 
burg,  upon  land  owned  originally  by  Mr.  James  Taylor,  Sen.,  a 
first  settler,  and  subsequently  in  possession  of  his  grandson,  Mr. 
Zachary  Taylor,  who  was  the  grandfather  of  the  late  General 
Zachary  Taylor,  and  is  now  owned  by  Mr.  Erasmus  Taylor.  We 
have  not  been  able  to  ascertain  the  year  in  which  the  church  was 
built;  but  from  certain  private  records  in  our  possession  we  can 
assign  the  date  of  its  erection  somewhere  between  1750  and  1758. 
This  church,  like  the  old  Colonial  churches  generally,  was  well  built 
and  of  durable  materials.  As  late  as  1806,  time  had  made  but 
little  impression  upon  it.  But  what  time  failed  to  accomplish  was 


86  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

reached  "by  the  unsparing  hand  of  man.  After  the  Church  in 
Virginia  was  divested  of  her  glebes,  her  houses  of  worship  came  to 
be  regarded  by  the  multitude  as  "common  property.7'  While  her 
hand  was  against  no  man,  every  man's  hand  seemed  to  be  against 
her.  During  or  shortly  before  the  last  war  with  Great  Britain  the 
work  01  the  church's  destruction  was  begun.  Delenda  est  Carthago 
seemed  to  be  the  watchword  of  the  ruthless  foe.  They  first  com- 
menced with  the  roof;  this  soon  yielded  to  their  onset ;  the  rafters 
next  gave  way :  the  naked,  massive  walls  resisted  for  a  time  their 
further  onslaught,  but,  nothing  daunted,  they  redoubled  their  forces 
and  renewed  the  attack.  The  walls  fell,  and  the  triumph  of  the 
invaders  was  complete,  as  they  carried  away  as  so  many  captives 
the  vanquished,  unresisting  bricks.  The  altar-pieces,  (the  gift  of 
Mr.  Andrew  Shepherd,)  executed  in  gilt  letters,  and  which  long 
adorned  the  venerated  chancel,  were  torn  from  their  ancient  rest- 
ing-places, rent  into  fragments,  and  were  afterward,  though  with 
no  sacrilegious  intent,  attached  as  ornamental  appendages  to  some 
articles  of  household  furniture. 

Amidst  the  general  destruction  of  the  property  of  the  church, 
even  the  ancient  Communion-plate,  belonging  to  the  parish,  came 
to  be  regarded  as  common  property.  This  plate,  consisting  of  a 
massive  silver  cup  and  paten,  with  the  name  of  the  parish  engraved 
thereupon,  was,  as  we  learn,  the  gift  of  a  few  pious  communicants 
about  a  century  since,  among  whom  were  Mrs.  Frances  Madison, 
grandmother  of  the  President,  and  Mrs.  James  Taylor,  mother  of 
the  late  Mr.  Robert  Taylor,  and  Mrs.  Balmaine.  It  has  been  only 
by  the  exercise  of  vigilance  that  this  solitary  remnant  of  the  old 
church's  property  has  been  rescued  and  handed  down  in  a  state 
of  perfect  preservation,  for  the  present  use  of  St.  Thomas's  Church. 

The  time  of  the  erection  of  the  Pine  Stake  Church  is,  like  that 
of  the  other  two,  involved  in  obscurity.  It  is  probable  that  it  was 
built  about  the  same  time  as  the  Middle  or  Brick  Church.  It 
was  situated  near  Mountain  Run,  about  fifteen  miles  northeast  of 
Orange  Court-House,  on  lands  originally  taken  up  by  Mr.  Francis 
Taliafero,  Sen.  It  continued  to  be  used  as  a  place  of  worship  by 
an  Episcopal  congregation  in  the  early  part  of  the  present  century, 
and  was  standing  at  least  as  late  as  the  year  1813.  During  the 
war  of  the  Revolution  a  Mr.  Leland,  a  Baptist  preacher,  who  was 
a  man  of  considerable  notoriety  in  these  parts  at  that  period,  ap- 
plied to  the  vestry  for  the  use  of  this  church.  The  following  letter 
from  the  father  of  President  Madison,  who  was  at  the  time  a 
member  of  the  vestry,  written  in  a  clear,  bold  hand,  (the  original  of 


FAMILIES   OP   VIRGINIA.  87 

which  we  have  in  our  possession,)  answers  his  application,  and  at 
the  same  time  throws  no  little  light  upon  the  rights  and  privileges 
of  the  Church  as  they  stood  at  that  time : — 

"  August  23,  1781 

"  SIR  : — For  want  of  opportunity  and  leisure,  I  have  delayed  till  now 
answering  your  letter  relative  to  your  preaching  in  the  Pine  Stake  Church. 
When  the  vestry  met  I  forgot  to  mention  your  request  to  them,  as  I  pro- 
mised you,  till  it  broke  up.  I  then  informed  the  members  present  what 
you  required  of  them  j  who,  as  the  case  was  new  and  to  them  unprece- 
dented, thought  it  had  better  remain  as  it  then  stood,  lest  the  members 
of  the  church  should  be  alarmed  that  their  rights  and  privileges  were  in 
danger  of  being  unjustifiably  disposed  of. 

"  I  do  not  remember  ever  to  have  heard  of  your  claiming  a  right  to  preach 
in  the  church  till  you  mentioned  in  your  letter  of  such  a  report.  As  to 
any  right  in  Disesnters  to  the  church,  you  may  see  by  the  Act  of  Assembly 
made  in  the  October  Session  in  1776,  they  are  excluded.  The  Act,  pro- 
bably to  satisfy  the  members,  (as  much  as  the  nature  of  the  case  would 
admit  of,)  reserved  to  the  use  of  the  Church  by  law  established  the  glebes, 
churches,  books,  plate,  ornaments,  donations,  &c.  Which,  as  hath  been 
generally  said,  the  Dissenters  were  well  satisfied  with,  having  in  lieu 
thereof  by  the  same  authority  gained  a  very  important  privilege, — the 
exemption  from  contributing  to  the  support  of  an  established  Church  and 
ministry,  which  they  had  long  groaned  under  and  complained  of.  On 
considering  the  case  I  make  no  doubt,  sir,  but  your  candour  will  readily 
excuse  the  vestry  in  not  granting  your  petition. 

"I  am,  sir,  your  humble  servant, 

"JAMES  MADISON 
"Rev.  Mr.  LELAND." 

At  a  later  period,  ministers  of  other  denominations  had  free 
access  to  these  old  Colonial  churches,  and  used  and  occupied  them  not 
so  much  by  courtesy  as  of  common  right.  The  Old  Orange  Church 
was  for  a  long  while  in  the  exclusive  use  of  another  denomination 
of  Christians,  and  the  Middle  Church  was  for  some  time,  as  was 
also  Walker's  Church  in  Albemarle,  alternately  occupied  by  the 
Rev.  Matthew  Maury  and  the  blind  Presbyterian  preacher.  The 
latter  came  to  this  part  of  Virginia  at  a  period  of  great  depression  in 
the  Episcopal  Church,  and  a  house  of  "worship  was  erected  for  him 
near  Gordonsville,  in  this  county,  to  which,  however,  he  did  not  con- 
fine his  ministrations.  It  was  here,  probably  on  his  way  from 
Albemarle  to  Orange  Court,  that  Mr.  Wirt  -was  furnished  with  a 
theme  which  has  given  as  much  notoriety  to  himself  as  to  the 
preacher.  Before  this  Mr.  Waddell  laboured  among  his  people  in 
comparative  obscurity.  His  fame  as  a  preacher  was  little  known, 
even  in  his  own  immediate  vicinity,  until  after  the  appearance  of 
Mr.  Wirt's  celebrated  letter  in  the  British  Spy.  His  congregations, 
which  previously  had  been  very  small,  now  became  large  to  over- 


88  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

flowing.  ^  ersons  from  a  distance  far  beyond  the  usual  limit  of 
attendance  upon  divine  worship  in  those  days — some  on  foot,  ,iome 
on  horseback,  some  in  "  every  kind  of  conveyance" — flocked  to  hear 
the  famous  Hind  preacher.  Without  meaning  to  detract  aught 
from  his  fame  as  a  preacher,  we  have  no  doubt,  if  we  may  form 
an  opinion  from  the  representation  of  persons  who  knew  him  well 
and  heard  Mm  often,  that  his  discourse  on  the  occasion  referred  to 
owes  not  a  little  of  its  surpassing  beauty  and  effectiveness  to  the 
brilliant  imagination  and  fine  descriptive  powers  of  the  author  of 
the  British  Spy. 

Turning  now  from  the  old  Colonial  churches  to  the  clergy  who 
ministered  in  this  parish  in  former  times,  we  find  ourselves,  in  the 
absence  of  vestry-books  and  other  ancient  records,  somewhat  at  a 
loss  to  reproduce  in  exact  chronological  order  their  names  and  the 
period  of  their  service.  "The  memory  of  man,"  and  some  private 
records  in  our  possession,  must  furnish  all  the  data  upon  which  we 
can  proceed  in  this  regard.  The  old  Scotch  minister  to  whom  we 
have  already  referred,  who  resided  near  and  preached  at  the  first 
Orange  Church  as  early  as  1740,  is  the  first  in  the  order  of  time 
of  whom  we  can  obtain  any  information;  and  even  his  name  is 
passed  into  oblivion.  In  1753,  the  name  of  the  Rev,  Mungo 
Marshall  appears  for  the  first  time  in  connection  with  this  parish, 
though  it  is  probable  he  took  charge  of  the  same  at  an  earlier 
period.  He  continued  to  reside  here  until  the  time  of  his  death, 
which  took  place  either  in  1757  or  1758.  We  find  it  on  record  in 
the  clerk's  office  of  this  county,  that  letters  of  administration  upon 
his  estate  were  taken  out  in  the  latter  year.  He  was  buried  in 
the  churchyard  attached  to  the  Old  Brick  Church,  but  for  a  long 
while  no  stone  or  other  memento  distinguished  the  place  of  his 
interment.  At  length,  many  years  after  his  death,  a  connec- 
tion of  his  bequeathed  a  certain  sum,  upon  condition  that  his 
legatee  was  not  to  receive  it  until  he  had  first  placed  a  tombstone 
over  the  remains  of  the  Eev.  Mungo  Marshall.  In  due  time 
thereafter  this  was  done.  But  it  was  not  long  permitted  to  desig- 
nate the  quiet  resting-place  of  the  dead.  When  the  work  of 
destruction  commenced  upon  the  church,  the  despoilers  did  not 
overlook  the  churchyard.  The  graves  of  the  departed,  and  the 
monuments  sacred  to  their  memory,  were  not  sacred  in  their  eyes. 
The  tombstones  were  borne  off  by  their  sacrilegious  hands  and  ap- 
propriated to  common  and  unhallowed  uses.  That  which  covered 
the  remains  of  this  man  of  God  was  used  first  to  grind  paints 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  d9 

upon,  and  afterward  served  in  a  tannery  for  the  purpose  of  dress- 
ing hides. 

In  1760,  Tare  find  the  Kev.  William  Giberne  officiating  in  this 
parish.  Whether  he  was  removed  by  death  or  otherwise  we  cannot 
ascertain ;  but  his  residence  here  was  a  brief  one;*  for  at  the  close 
of  the  year  1761,  the  Rev.  James  Marye,  Jr.,  having  just  entered 
into  Orders,  commenced  his  ministry  in  Orange.  His  first  recorded 
official  act  tc  which  we  are  able  to  refer  was  his  preaching  the 
funeral  sermon  of  the  paternal  grandmother  of  President  Madison. 
We  find  in  the  family  record  of  her  son  (James  Madison,  Sen.)  the 
following  entry: — " Frances,  wife  of  Ambrose  Madison,  departed 
this  life  October  25,  1761,  and  was  interred  the  Sunday  following, 
(at  Montpelier  in  Orange.)  Her  funeral  sermon  was  preached  on 
Wednesday  the  30th  of  December  following,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  James 
Marye,  Jr.,  on  Revelations  xiv.  13."  Mr.  Marye  was  a  worthy 
exception  to  a  class  of  clergy  that  obtained  in  Virginia  in  olden 
time.  So  far  as  we  can  learn,  he  was  a  man  of  evangelical  views 
und  sincere  piety.  We  have  seen  a  manuscript  sermon  of  his  on 
the  religious  training  of  children,  which  would  do  honour  to  the 
head  and  heart  of  any  clergyman,  and  whose  evangelical  tone  and 
spirit  might  well  commend  it  to  every  pious  parent  and  every  en- 
lightened Christian.  He  remained  in  charge  of  this  parish  about 
aix  years.  Upon  the  death  of  his  father,  (the  Rev.  James  Marye, 
Sen.,)  who  was  the  minister  of  St.  George's  parish,  Spottsylvania, 
for  thirty-one  years,  he  was  chosen  to  supply  his  place, — an  unmis- 
takable evidence  of  the  high  regard  in  which  both  father  and  son 
were  held  by  the  parishioners  of  St.  George's.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Marye 
is  the  first  minister  in  St.  Thomas  parish  whose  residence  we  can 
with  any  degree  of  certainty  fix  at  the  glebe.  This  farm,  after 
passing  through  various  hands  since  it  ceased  to  be  the  property 
of  the  Church,  is  now  by  a  singular  coincidence  in  possession  of 
one  of  his  lineal  descendants,  Robert  B,  Marye,  Esq. 

The  Rev.  Thomas  Martin  succeeded  Mr.  Marye  in  1767-68.  He 
was  a  young  man  of  merit'.  He  came  with  his  mother  and  sister 
to  reside  at  the  glebe ;  but  his  residence  was  of  short  duration. 
Death  removed  him  from  the  scene  of  his  labours  and  his  usefulness 
not  long  after  he  entered  upon  the  duties  of  the  parish.  He  was 
followed  by  the  Rev.  John  Barnett.  His  name  occurs  officially  ID 
1771.  But  his  connection  with  the  parish  was  also  of  brief  dura- 


*  He  remoyed  to  Richmond  county,  Virginia. 


90  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

tion,  for  in  1774  the  Rev.  John  Wingate  was  the  minister,  and  is 
the  last  of  the  ante-Revolutionary  clergy  whose  name  occurs. 
Whether  he  continued  in  charge  of  the  parish  during  the  war  we 
have  no  means  to  verify ;  but  circumstances  justify  the  conclusion 
that,  like  some  others  of  the  old  Colonial  clergy,  he  surrendered 
his  charge  at  the  commencement  of  hostilities  between  the  Colonies 
and  the  mother-country. 

A  period  of  sad  depression  dates  from  this  time.  For  the  long 
interval  between  1774  and  1797,  (twenty-three  years,)  the  parish 
seems  to  be  without  a  minister.  The  occasional  services  that  were 
rendered  by  the  Rev.  Matthew  Maury,  of  Albeinarle,  during  the 
latter  part  of  this  interval,  are,  so  far  as  we  can  see,  the  only  ones 
performed  by  any  clergyman.  Mr.  William  Moore,  a  man  of  note 
in  the  parish  at  this  time,  a  good  old  Churchman  and  an  excellent 
reader,  was  generally  called  upon  on  funeral  occasions  to  read  the 
burial  service.  In  the  first  Convention  of  the  Church,  in  Virginia, 
held  in  1785,  we  find  St.  Thomas  parish,  though  without  a  minis- 
ter, not  without  a  representative.  Mr.  Thomas  Barb  our  (father 
of  the  late  Governor  and  of  the  late  Judge  Barbour)  appeared  as 
the  delegate.  In  the  following  year  the  parish  is  again  represented 
by  Mr.  Barbour,  in  connection  with  Mr.  William  Moore.  In  1790, 
Thomas  Barbour  and  J.  Daniel  are  the  delegates.  In  1793,  the 
parish  is  again  represented  by  Thomas  Barbour.  In  1797,  we  find 
the  Eev.  Charles  O'Mel  the  clerical  and  William  Moore  the  lay 
delegate.  The  Rev.  Mr.  O'Niel  took  charge  of  the  parish  in  the 
latter  year,  and  remained  until  1800.  He  resided  first  near  the 
Pine  Stake  Church,  and  preached  at  that  church  during  his  resi- 
dence in  Orange.  He  afterward  removed  to  the  upper  part  of  the 
county,  where,  as  well  as  at  his  former  residence,  he  taught  school 
in  connection  with  his  parochial  duties.  The  late  Judge  Barbour 
was  one  of  his  pupils.  Mr.  O'Niel  was  an  Irishman,  and  a  man 
of  ardent  temperament  and  of  ardent  temper.  We  have  often 
heard  him  spoken  of  by  elderly  persons,  but  more  as  a  teacher 
than  as  a  preacher.  He  was  of  that  class  of  teachers  that  adopted 
not  only  the  theory,  but  the  practice  also,  of  the  old  regime,  as  the 
best  for  the  government  of  boys.  Flogging  was  a  main  ingredient 
in  the  practice  of  his  system.  He  had  a  summary  method  of  re- 
ducing and  gentling  a  refractory  youth.  Mounting  him  upon  the 
back  of  an  athletic  negro  man,  whom  he  seems  to  have  kept  for 
the  purpose,  the  culprit  was  pinioned  hand  and  foot  as  in  a  vice, 
and,  with  the  unsparing  application  of  the  rod  to  his  defenceless 
back,  was  taught  the  lesson,  if  not  the  doctrine,  of  passive  obe 


FAMILIES    OF    VIRGINIA.  91 

dience.  However  his  school  may  have  flourished  under  his  manage- 
ment, it  seems  his  parish  did  not,  for  we  look  in  vain  for  any  fruits 
of  his  parochial  labours.  Another  long  interval  now  occurs  in  the 
history  of  the  parish,  without  any  one  to  take  the  regular  oversight 
of  its  spiritual  interests.  The  Rev.  Matthew  Maury  again  kindly 
extended  his  care  to  this  neglected  field,  and  performed  occasional 
services  in  it  at  least  as  late  as  1806.  In  1809-11,  we  find  the  Rev- 
Hugh  Goran  Boggs,  of  Berkeley  parish,  Spottsylvania,  devoting 
a  portion  of  his  time  to  Orange.  He  preached  at  the  Pine  Stake 
Church  and  also  at  the  court-house.  We  have  often  heard  it  said, 
that  when  he  preached  at  the  latter  place  he  was  never  known  to 
use  the  Liturgy.  This  may  have  been  owing  to  the  difficulty  he 
met  with  in  procuring  the  responses.  He  may  have  rightly  judged 
the  lex  necessitatis  to  be  a  "  higher  law"  and  of  more  stringent 
force  than  any  canon  or  rubric  to  the  contrary.  From  1811  to  1815 
the  parish  was  again  without  a  minister.  In  the  latter  year,  the 
Rev.  William  Hawley,  coming  to  reside  at  Culpepper  Court-House, 
took  charge  of  St.  Thomas  parish  in  connection  with  St.  Stephen's 
Church,  Culpepper,  At  the  time  he  commenced  his  labours  in 
Orange,  the  Episcopal  Church  had  wellnigh  died  out  in  the  county. 
But  three  or  four  communicants  remained  in  all  this  region  of 
country,  and  some  of  these  were  far  advanced  in  age.  So  entirely 
had  our  time-honoured  service  gone  into  desuetude,  that  when  Mr. 
Hawley  first  commenced  its  use  it  was  listened  to  as  a  striking 
novelty.  Under  his  ministry  there  began  to  appear  the*  dawn  of  a 
brighter  day  for  the  Church.  Several  communicants  were  added ; 
some  of  whom,  in  the  providence  of  God,  still  remain  with  us.  In 
the  autumn  of  1816,  Bishop  Moore  made  his  first  visitation  of  the 
parish,  preached  and  administered  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  also  the 
rite  of  Confirmation,  in  the  court-house.  This  was  now  our  usual — 
nay,  our  only — place  of  worship.  Referring  to  this  visitation,  the 
Bishop,  in  his  report  to  the  following  Convention,  says,  "My 
labours  commenced  in  the  county  of  Orange,  at  which  place  1 
preached  to  a  large  and  attentive  auditory,  celebrated  the  Lord's 
Supper,  and  administered  the  rite  of  Confirmation  to  a  goodly 
number/'  The  visit  of  the  good  Bishop,  as  well  from  its  novelty 
as  its  effectiveness,  was  calculated  to  make,  and  did  make,  a  great 
impression  at  the  time.  It  was  an  event  of  unusual  solemnity,  and 
is  still  remembered  with  lively  interest  by  some  who  were  present. 
!TMs  was  the  first  Episcopal  visitation  that  had  ever  been  made, 
and  this  the  first  time  the  rite  of  Confirmation  had  ever  been  ad- 
ministered, in  the  parish.  Bishop  Madison,  it  appears,  was  in  the 


9i  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

habit  of  visiting  his  relatives  at  Montpelier,  socially,  from  time  to 
time,  but  we  learn  from  undoubted  authority  that  he  never  visited 
the  parish  in  his  Episcopal  capacity.  Among  the  "  goodly  number" 
confirmed  by  Bishop  Moore  on  this  occasion  was  the  aged  mother 
of  President  Madison.  She  became  a  communicant  at  the  age  of 
twenty,  and  now  at  the  age  of  fourscore  and  four  she  came  forward 
to  ratify  her  early  baptismal  vows.  Until  that  day  an  opportunity 
had  never  presented  itself  for  the  reception  of  this  solemn  and 
sacred  rite.  The  ministry  of  Mr.  Hawley  was  evidently  blessed 
during  his  connection  with  the  parish ;  but  the  growing  interest  in 
religion  and  the  Church  which  now  became  manifest  was  checked 
at  this  auspicious  period  by  his  removal  in  1817  to  another  field 
of  labour.  In  1820,  the  Rev.  Herbert  Marshall  came  to  Culpepper 
and  devoted  some  of  his  time  to  Orange.  This  worthy  young  mi 
nister  married  the  sister  of  the  present  Bishop  of  Kentucky.  The 
parish  was  very  soon  deprived  of  the  benefit  of  his  labours.  Death 
ended  his  usefulness  not  long  after  he  came  to  this  part  of  the 
diocese.  For  about  two  years  from  1823,  the  Rev.  Frederick 
Hatch,  of  Albemarle,  had  the  oversight  of  the  congregation  in 
Orange,  officiating  once  a  month  at  the  court-house.  In  the  winter 
of  1826-27,  the  Rev.  George  A.  Smith  came  to  reside  in  Culpepper, 
and  took  charge  of  St.  Thomas  parish  in  connection  with  St. 
Mark's.  He  continued  in  charge  until  1830,  and  devoted  two 
Sundays  in  the  month  to  the  congregation  at  Orange  Court- 
House.  While  it  appsars  the  attendance  on  divine  service  was  good 
and  the  congregations  attentive  during  the  time  he  officiated  here, 
yet  at  this  period  the  interests  of  the  parish  were  at  a  low  ebb. 
In  his  report  to  Convention  in  1828,  Mr.  Smith  says,  "  There  is  no 
vestry  in  this  parish,  and  the  churches  which  existed  there  some 
years  since  have  been  destroyed."  A  decided  improvement,  how- 
ever, in  the  spiritual  interests  of  the  congregation  took  place  under 
his  ministry,  and  several  communicants  were  added  to  the  Church. 
In  the  early  part  of  August,  1832,  the  Rev.  William  Gr.  H.  Jones, 
coming  on  a  visit,  was  induced  to  take  up  his  residence  in  Orange, 
and  to  undertake  the  pastoral  care  of  the  parish  together  with 
Walker's  Church,  in  Albemarle.  Here  he  met  with  the  Assistant- 
Bishop  of  the  diocese,  who  had  an  appointment  at  Orange  Court- 
House  at  that  time.  This  was  a  most  auspicious  period  in  the  history 
of  the  parish.  There  was  found  at  the  time  of  his  coming  a  deep 
awakening  in  the  hearts  of  many  on  the  subject  of  religion ;  and 
this  interest  was  kept  alive  for  some  time  thereafter.  The  visit  of 
Bishop  Meade  at  -the  time  was  also  most  opportune,  and  was  at- 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  93 

tended  with  the  happiest  effects.  In  his  report  to  the  following 
Convention  he  stated,  "From  Albemarle  I  proceeded  to  Orange 
Court-House,  where  I  spent  two  days  in  ministering  the  word  and 
ordinances  to  large  and  deeply-impressed  assemblies  ;  on  the  second 
day  I  administered  the  rite  of  Confirmation  to  seventeen  persons, 
and  the  Holy  Communion  to  more  than  twice  that  number.  A  spirit 
of  earnest  inquiry  has  been  awakened  among  the  people  of  that 
place,  which  will,  I  trust,  lead  to  glorious  results  to  themselves  and 
their  posterity."  Of  the  communicants  added  on  that  occasion, 
Mr.  Jones,  in  his  first  report  from  St.  Thomas  parish,  says,  "Five 
were  added  by  Bishop  Meade,  and  twelve  by  myself.'7  An  effort 
was  now  made  to  reorganize  the  parish.  A  vestry  was  elected — a 
body  which  had  not  existed  in  the  parish  for  many  years — and 
steps  were  shortly  after  taken  for  the  building  of  a  church.  In 
1833,  a  spacious  and  eligible  lot  in  the  village  was  selected,  and  a 
neat  church-edifice  of  brick  was  commenced  and  completed  the  fol* 
lowing  year,  at  the  cost  of  three  thousand  five  hundred  dollars. 
The  Kev.  Mr.  Jones  continued  in  Orange  until  the  summer  of 
1840. 

In  January,  1841,  the  present  minister  took  charge  of  the  parish. 
Since  that  time  there  have  been  alternate  seasons  of  prosperity  and 
adversity  in  the  congregation.  Yet,  in  the  face  of  some  discourage- 
ments, both  the  communion  and  the  congregation  have  steadily 
increased.  Mr.  Jones,  in  his  last  report  to  Convention  from  St. 
Thomas's  Church,  gave  thirty-four  as  the  number  of  communicants: 
the  number  now  reaches  ninety.  In  1853,  to  accommodate  the 
increasing  congregation,  the  church-edifice  was  enlarged,  and  at 
the  same  time  both  the  exterior  and  interior  were  much  improved. 

When  we  look  back  at  the  depressed  state  to  which  tne  parish 
was  reduced,  and  compare  it  with  what  it  now  is,  we  cannot  but 
exclaim,  "What  hath  Grod  wrought!"  and  to  add,  "Not  unto  us, 
0  Lord,  not  unto  us,  but  unto  thy  name,  give  glory."  If  we 
except  the  interval  between  1797  and  1800,  during  which  the  Kev. 
Mr.  O'Niel  resided  in  Orange,  the  parish  was  without  a  resident 
minister  from  1774  to  1832.  Nowhere,  during  the  long  and  dreary 
night  through  whicn  the  Church  in  Virginia  was  made  to  pass,  was 
the  darkness  more  distinctly  visible  than  in  Orange.  With  but 
three  or  four  communicants  left,  and  they  far  advanced  in  age, — 
with  her  substantial  church-edifices,  erected  in  Colonial  times, 
utterly  destroyed, — with  the  graves  of  her  once  honoured  servants, 
who  ministered  at  her  altars,  dismantled  and  insulted, — with  her 
time-hallowed  Liturgy,  so  dear  to  every  true-heartod  Churchman., 


94  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,    AXD 

gone  into  disuse  and  become  a  novelty  in  public  worship, — with  a 
parish  without  an  organization  and  existing  only  in  name,  and  with 
the  place  of  litigation  as  the  only  place  for  the  worship  of  Almighty 
God,— the  destruction  of  the  Church  in  Orange  seemed  wellnigh 
complete.  But  light  was  made  to  dawn  upon  her  darkness.  By 
the  mercy  of  God  she  has  risen  again,  phoenix-like,  from  her  former 
ashes,  and  is  now,  In  point  of  numbers,  as  it  respects  both  her 
communion  and  her  congregation,  one  of  the  largest  of  the  rural 
parishes  in  Virginia. 

During  the  darkest  period  of  the  parish,  there  were  not  wanting 
a  few  faithful  witnesses.  These  were  identified  with  the  Church 
in  the  time  of  her  prosperity  and  in  the  time  of  her  adversity.  They 
forsook  her  not  because  she  was  down-trodden  and  depressed ;  on 
the  contrary,  they  loved  her  more  the  more  she  was  afflicted,  and 
clung  to  her  like  loving  children  to  a  devoted  mother.  If  among 
God's  ancient  people  the  children  were  blest  for  their  fathers'  sake, 
so  we  may  believe  the  Church  in  Orange  was  ultimately  blest  for 
the  sake  of  these  devoted  servants  of  the  living  God.  Among 
these  we  deem  it  proper  to  notice  specially  the  names  of  several 
individuals,  and  we  can  do  so  now  with  the  more  propriety  as  we 
speak  of  the  dead  and  not  of  the  living.  The  individuals  to  whom 
we  allude  were  the  mother  of  President  Madison,  the  mother  of 
Governor  and  Judge  Barbour,  Mrs.  Frances  Burnley,  and  Mrs. 
Jane  Howard, — the  two  last  the  sisters  of  Mrs.  Lucy  Balmaine,  of 
Winchester.  These  were  all  bright  ornaments  of  the  religion  which 
they  professed,  and  the  savour  of  their  piety  continues  to  the 
present  day. 

In  the  absence  of  vestry-books  and  other  records,  I  am  unable 
to  furnish  the  names  of  the  vestry  prior  to  the  reorganization  of 
the  parish  in  1832,  Since  that  time  we  find  among  the  vestry  the 
following : — 

Charles  P.  Howard,  Mann  A.  Page,  Jeremiah  Morton,  James  Shep- 
herd, Peyton  Chymes,  Lewis  B.  Williams,  Anthony  Twyman,  Robert  T. 
Willis,  Lawrence  H.  Taliafero,  John  Taliafero,  Benjamin  Franklin  Talia- 
fero,  Jaqueline  P.  Taliafero,  Uriel  Terrill,  Thomas  T,  Slaughter,  John  J, 
Ambler,  John  H.  Lee,  James  H.  Minor,  William  Bankhead,  Peter  T. 
Johnson,  Thomas  A.  Bobinson,  and  Horace  D.  Taliafero. 

The  principal  families  connected  with  the  Church  in  Orange  in 
Colonial  times  were  the  Barbours,  Bells,  Burtons,  Campbells,  Caves, 
Chews,  Conways,  Daniels,  Madisons,  Moores,  Euckers,  Shepherds, 
Taylors,  TaHaferos,  and  Whites.  Mr.  Richard  White,  who  died 
some  years  since  at  the  age  of  ninety,  was  the  last  communicant 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  3& 

connected  with  the  Old  Orange  Church.  With  comparatively  few 
exceptions,  the  descendants  of  these  respective  families  continued 
to  retain  their  attachment  to  the  Church  of  their  fathers,  and  some 
of  them  are  among  its  most  worthy  members. 

The  following  letter  has  also  been  received  from  the  same : — 

"ORANGE  CouBT-EousE,  March  7,  1857. 

"RiGHT  REV.  AND  DEAR  SIR: — Since  I  wrote  you  some  days  since,  a 
few  items  of  interest  in  relation  to  this  parish  have  come  to  my  hands.  A 
single  leaf,  and  that  somewhat  mutilated,  of  the  old  vestry-book  of  St. 
Thomas  parish,  was  found  among  the  papers  of  one  of  my  communicants 
who  died  last  week,  and  has  since  been  handed  to  me.  From  this  I  am 
able  to  ascertain  who  composed  the  vestry  as  far  back  as  1769.  The 
record  states : — '  At  a  vestry  held  for  St.  Thomas  parish,  at  the  glebe,  on 
Friday,  the  1st  day  of  September,  1769,  present,  Rev.  Thomas  Martin, 
Eras.  Taylor,  James  Madison,  Alexander  Waugh,  Francis  Moore,  William 
Bell,  Rowland  Thomas,  Thomas  Bell,  Richard  Barbour,  William  Moore,.' 
The  object  of  their  meeting  was  to  take  into  consideration  the  repairs 
necessary  to  be  made  to  the  house  and  other  buildings  connected  with  the 
glebe. 

"From  a  private  record  kept  at  the  time,  I  also  learn  that  the  congre- 
gation in  Orange,  in  the  year  1786,  engaged  the  services  of  Mr.  Waddell, 
the  blind  Presbyterian  minister,  to  preach  for  them  for  two  years.  He 
officiated  at  the  Brick  Church.  There  was  no  Episcopal  clergyman  here 
at  the  time.  It  appears  that  forty  pounds  were  subscribed  for  him,  and 
it  was  expected  the  subscription  would  reach  sixty  pounds.  The  Rev. 
Mr.  Balmaine  was  here  occasionally  at  that  period,  addressing  Miss  Lucy 
Taylor,  whom  he  married  on  the  31st  day  of  October,  1786.  He  preached 
and  administered  the  ordinances  from  time  to  time,  both  "before  and  after 
his  marriage.  On  one  occasion,  when  Mr.  Waddell  preached,  we  observe 
he  gave  notice  that  he  would  preach  and  administer  the  Lord's  Supper  on 
the  following  Sunday. 

"I  have  also  ascertained  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  O'Niel  was  in  Orange  in 
1796.  I  stated  he  came  in  1797.  You  will  make  this  correction,  and  also 
%dd  to  the  list  of  the  families  the  Thomases  and  the  Waughs. 

"  Yours  very  truly  and  affectionately,  J.  EARNEST." 


OLD   CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,  AND 


ARTICLE  LVI. 

The  G-enealogy  of  the  Madisons  and  Taylors — President  Madison9 $ 
religious  character — Churches  in  Madison  and  Rappahannock. 

THE  following  documents  will  give  you  the  ancestry  of  President 
Madison.  You  may  be  aware  that  he  married  Mrs.  Dolly  Todd : 
her  maiden  name  was  Payne.  She  was,  as  I  am  informed,  a  Qua- 
keress, and  was  born  in  the  county  of  Hanover,  but  at  the  time  of 
her  marriage  resided  in  Philadelphia.  It  was,  if  I  mistake  not, 
while  he  was  a  member  of  Congress,  sitting  at  the  time  in  Phila- 
delphia, that  he  made  her  acquaintance.  She  was  a  lady  of  ex- 
ceedingly attractive  manners.  During  the  latter  years  of  her  life 
she  resided  in  Washington,  and  in  her  old  age  was  baptized  and 
became  a  member  of  St.  John's  Church  in  that  city.  Mr.  Madison 
died  without  children.  Mrs.  Madison  had  one  child,  a  son,  by  her 
former  marriage. 

I  have  thought  it  best  to  furnish  you  with  a  transcript  from  the 
record  of  James  Madison,  Sen.,  as  it  will  give  you  some  further  in- 
formation respecting  the  family.  It  was  transcribed  in  great  haste, 
ttnd  was  intended  only  for  my  own  eye. 

A. — James  Madison  (the  late  President)  is  the  eldest  of  twelve  chil- 
dren— eight  sons  and  four  daughters — of  whom  but  one  brother  and  one 
sister  are  now  living.  He  was  born  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Rappahannock, 
at  Port  Con  way,  opposite  the  town  of  Port  Royal,  on  the  5th  of  March,  1751. 
His  father's  name  was  James,  the  son  of  Ambrose  Madison  and  Frances 
Taylor.  He  lived  to  the  age  of  seventy-eight  years,  and  died  in  February, 
1801.  The  father  of  Ambrose  was  John,  the  son  of  John  Madison,  who 
it  appears  took  out;  by  a  statement  of  a  patent  now  in  possession,  certain 
lands  on  the  shores  of  the  Chesapeake,  between  North  and  York  Rivers, 
in  Grlocester  county,  near  Colonel  Taylor's  creek,  in  the  year  1653, — 6th 
Charles  II,, — Richard  Bennet,  Governor  and  Captain-General  cf  Virginia. 
The  ancestors  of  Frances  Taylor  are  traced  one  remove  further  back,  and 
were  residents  of  the  same  district  of  country.  The  name  of  his  mother 
was  Nelly  Oonway,  descended  from  some  of  the  early  settlers.  Her  father, 
Francis,  lived  near  Port  Royal,  in  the  county  of  Caroline,  whose  father, 
Edwin  Conway,  married  Elizabeth  Thompson.  Her  mother,  Rebecca,  was 
the  daughter  of  E.  Gaines  and  John  Catlett,  whose  father,  John,  was  born 
in  Virginia  and  educated  in  England.  He  was  killed  by  the  Indians  in 
defending  the  fort  of  Port  Royal, — being  a  first  settler.  A  great-aunt  of 
his  was  likewise  killed  by  the  .Indians  lower  down  the  river.  It  appears 
that  all  the  ancestry  just  traced  were  natives  of  Virginia,  and,  it  is  be* 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  97 

lieved,  for  the  most  part  at  least,  if  not  altogether,  of  English  descent. 
In  both  the  paternal  and  maternal  line  of  ancestry  they  were  planters,  and 
among  the  respectable  though  not  the  most  opulent  class.* 

B. — From  the  Record  of  James  Madison,  Sen.,  father  of  the  President 

Ambrose  Madison  was  married  to  Frances  Taylor,  August  24,  1721. 

Ambrose  Madison  was  father  of  James  Madison.  Frances  Taylor  was 
sister  of  Erasmus  Taylor  and  daughter  of  James  Taylor. 

James  Madison,  Sen.  was  born  March  27, 1723,  and  was  baptized  April 
21,  and  had  for  godfathers  Thomas  Madison  and  James  Taylor,  and  for 
godmothers  Martha  Taylor  and  Elizabeth  Penn. 

Frances,  wife  of  Ambrose  Madison,  departed  this  life  October  25, 1761, 
and  was  interred  the  Sunday  following  at  Montpelier  in  Orange.  Hei 
funeral  sermon  was  preached  on  Wednesday,  the  30th  of  December  fol- 
lowing, by  the  Eev.  Mr.  James  Marye,  Jr.,  on  Revelation  eh.  14,  v.  13. 

James  Madison,  Sen.  was  married  to  Nelly  Conway,  September  15, 1749. 

The  following  are  their  children: — 

James  Madison,  Jr.,  the  President,  was  born  on  Tuesday  night  at  12 
o'clock,  being  the  last  of  the  5th  and  beginning  of  the  6th  day  of  March, 
1751,  and  was  baptized  by  the  -Rev.  Mr.  Wm.  Davis,  March  31,  and  had 
for  godfathers  Mr.  John  Moore  and  Mr.  Jonathan  Gibson,  and  for  god- 
mothers Mrs.  Rebecca  Moore,  Miss  Judith,  and  Miss  Elizabeth  Catlett. 

[James  Madison,  Jr.  was  born  at  Port  Con  way,  in  King  G-eorge,  and 
was  baptized  there, — his  mother  being  on  a  visit  there  to  her  mother  at 
the  time  of  his  birth.] 

Frances  Madison  was  born  on  Monday  morning  at  7  o'clock,  June  18, 
1753,  and  was  baptized  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Mungo  Marshall,  July  1,  and 
had  for  godfathers  Mr.  Taverner  Beale  and  Mr.  Erasmus  Taylor,  and  for 
godmothers  Miss  Milly  Taylor  and  Mrs.  Frances  Beale. 

Ambrose  Madison  was  born  on  Monday  night  between  9  and  10  o'clock, 
January  27,  1755,  and  was  baptized  by  the  Rev.  Mungo  Marshall,  March 
2,  and  had  for  godfathers  Mr.  James  Coleman  and  Colonel  George  Taylor, 
and  for  godmothers  Mrs.  Jane  Taylor  and  Alice  Chew. 

Catlett  Madison  was  born  on  Friday  morning  at  3  o'clock,  February 
10,  1758,  and  was  baptized  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  James  Maury,  February  22, 
and  had  for  godfathers  Colonel  Wm.  Taliafero  and  Mr.  Richard  Beale,  and 
for  godmothers  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Beale  and  Miss  Milly  Chew. 

Nelly  Madison  (afterward  Mrs.  Hite)  was  born  February  14, 1760,  and 
was  baptized  March  6,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wm.  Giberne,  and  had  for  god- 
fathers Mr.  Larken  Chew  and  Mr.  Wm.  Moore,  and  for  godmothers  Miss 
Elizabeth  Catlett  and  Miss  Catharine  Bowie.  The  said  Nelly  was  born  on 
Thursday  morning  just  after  daybreak. 

William  Madison  was  born  May  1,  1762,  baptized  May  23j  by  the  Rev. 
James  Marie,  Jr.,  and  had  for  godfathers  Mr.  Wm.  Moore  and  Mr.  James 
Taylor,  and  for  godmothers  Miss  Mary  Willis  and  Miss  Milly  Chew. 
He  was  born  on  Saturday  morning,  about  twenty-five  minutes  after  10 
o'clock. 


*  These  papers  arc  copies  from  the  originals  loaned  me  by  Mrs.  L.  H.  Conway; 
niece  of  the  late  Presilent  Madison.  They  were  found  among  his  papers  after  the 
death  of  his  wife.  The  original  of  this  marked  A.  is  believed  to  be  in  Mr.  Madison's 
handwriting.  The  handwriting  of  the  other  is  not  known. 

VOL.  II.— 7 


98  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AMD 

Sarah  Madison,  (Mrs.  Thomas  Macon;)  born  August  17,  1764,  and 
was  baptized  September  15,  by  the  Rev.  James  Maiye,  Jr.,  and  had  for 
godfathers  Captain  Richard  Barbour  and  Mr.  Andrew  Shepherd,  and  for 
godmothers  Mrs.  Sarah  Taylor  and  Miss  Mary  Conway,  She  was  born 
forty-five  minutes  after  5  o'clock  P.M.,  on  Friday. 

Elizabeth  Madison  was  born  February  19,  1768,  half  an  hour  after  12 
o'clock,  and  was  baptized  February  22,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Thomas  Martin, 
and  had  for  godfathers  Major  Zaehariah  Burnley  and  Captain  Ambrose 
Powell,  and  for  godmothers  Miss  Alice  and  Miss  Milly  Chew. 

Reuben  Madison  was  born  September  19, 1771,  between  5  and  6  o'clock 
in  the  evening,  and  was  baptized  November  10,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  John 
Barnett,  and  had  for  godfathers  Mr.  Thomas  Barbour  and  Mr.  James 
Chew,  and  for  godmothers  Miss  Alice  and  Miss  Milly  Chew. 

Frances  Taylor  Madison  (afterward  Mrs.  Dr.  Robert  H.  Rose)  was  born 
October  47  1774?  and  was  baptized  October  30,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  John 
Wingate,  and  had  for  godfathers  Mr.  Thomas  Bell  and  Mr.  Richard 
Taylor,  and  for  godmothers  Miss  Frances  Taylor  and  Miss  Elizabeth 
Taylor. 

THE   TAYLOR  FAMILY. 

The  Taylors  of  Orange  trace  their  ancestry  back  to  James  Taylor, 
of  Carlisle,  England.  The  time  of  his  emigration  to  Virginia  is 
not  known.  It  appears  he  settled  on  the  Chesapeake  between  the 
North  and  York  Rivers,  (Doc.  A.)  He  died  in  1698.  He  had 
several  children, — one  of  whom  (Mary)  was  the  mother  of  Judge 
Edmund  Pendleton.  His  son  John  (who  married  a  Pendleton)  is 
the  ancestor  of  Colonel  John  Taylor,  of  Caroline.  His  son  James 
took  up  lands  in  Orange,  and  was  a  first  settler.  He  was  the  father 
of  Frances,  wife  of  Ambrose  Madison  and  grandmother  of  the 
President.  He  had  four  sons, — James,  George,  Zachary,  and  Eras- 
mus. From  James  are  descended  the  Taylors  of  Kentucky. 
George  had  fourteen  sons,  seven  of  whom  served  in  the  Revolution- 
ary War,  and  thirteen  of  whom  held  offices  under  Government  at 
the  same  time.  Some  of  his  descendants  are  now  residing  in 
Orange,  and  are  members  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  Zachary  had 
seven  sons  and  three  daughters.  He  was  grandfather  of  General 
Zachary  Taylor.  The  latter  was  born  at  Hare  Forest,  about  four 
miles  from  Orange  Court-House.  Erasmus  had  two  sons  and  five 
daughters, — viz-:  John  and  Eobert,  Mildred,  (married  Wm.  Morton,) 

Frances,  (married Burnley,)  Elizabeth,  (married Glassel,) 

Lucy,  (married  the  Rev.  A.  Balmaine,)  Jane,  (married  Charles  P. 
Howard.)  John  was  father  of  the  late  Judge  John  Taylor,  of  Mis- 
sissippi. Robert  married  Frances  Pendleton,  and  from  them  are 
descended  most  of  the  Taylors  now  residing  in  Orange, — all  of 
wlnm  retain  their  attachment  to  the  Church  of  their  fathers- 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  99 


PBESIDENT   MADISON'S   KELIGIOUS   OPINIONS. 

In  the  neighbourhood  of  Orange  Court-House,  at  Moutpelier, 
lived  Mr.  James  Madison,  once  President  of  the  United  States,  and 
relative  of  Bishop  Madison.  Having  been  often  asked  concerning 
his  religious  sentiments,  I  give  the  following,  received  from  the  Rev* 
Dr.  Balmaine,  who  married  his  near  relative,  and  by  whom  Mr, 
Madison  himself  was  married.  Mr.  Madison  was  sent  to  Princeton 
College, — perhaps  through  fear  of  the  skeptical  principles  then  so 
prevalent  at  William 'and  Mary.  During  his  stay  at  Princeton  a 
great  revival  took  place,  and  it  was  believed  that  he  partook  of  its 
spirit.  On  his  return  home  he  conducted  family  worship  in  his 
father's  house.  He  soon  after  offered  for  the  Legislature,  and  it 
was  objected  to  him.  by  his  opponents,  that  he  was  better  suited  to 
the  pulpit  than  to  the  legislative  hall.  His  religious  feeling,  how- 
ever, seems  to  have  been  short-lived.  His  political  associations 
with  those  of  infidel  principles,  of  whom  there  were  many  in  his 
day,  if  they  did  not  actually  change  his  creed,  yet  subjected  him 
to  the  general  suspicion  of  it.  This  was  confirmed  in  the  minds  of 
some  by  the  active  part  he  took  in  opposition  to  every  thing  like 
the  support  of  churches  by  the  Legislature,  in  opposition  to  Patrick 
Henry,  Governor  Page,  Richard  Henry  Lee,  and  others.  This, 
however,  ought  not  to  have  been  sufficient  to  fix  the  charge  upon 
him,  as  George  Mason  and  others,  whose  faith  was  not  questioned, 
agreed  with  Mm  in  this  policy.  A  reference  to  a  memorial  against 
any  such  act  by  Mr.  Madison,  at  the  request,  it  is  affirmed,  of  some 
aon-Episcopalians,  will  show  his  character  and  views.  It  is  by 
tar  the  ablest  document  which  appears  on  that  side  of  the  question, 
and  establishes  his  character  for  good  temper  as  well  as  decision. 
[t  is  drawn  up  on  the  supposition  of  the  truth  of  Christianity.  It 
must  indeed  have  done  this  in  order  to  be  acceptable  to  those  by 
whom  it  was  solicited.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  private  senti- 
ments of  Mr.  Madison  on  the  subject  of  religion,  he  was  never 
known  to  declare  any  hostility  to  it.  He  always  treated  it  with 
respect,  attended  public  worship  in  his  neighbourhood,  invited  minis- 
ters of  religion  to  his  house,  had  family  prayers  on  such  occasions, 
— though  he  did  not  kneel  himself  at  prayers.  Episcopal  ministers 
often  went  there  to  see  his  aged  and  pious  mother  and  administer 
the  Holy  Communion  to  her.  I  was  never  at  Mr.  Madison's  but 
once,  and  then  our  conversation  took  such  a  turn — though  not 
designed  on  my  part — as  to  call  forth  some  expressions  and  argu- 


100  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,    AND 

ments  which  left  the  impression  on  my  mind  that  his  creed  was  not 
strictly  regulated  by  the  Bible.  At  his  death,  some  years  after 
this,  his  minister— the  Rev.  Mr.  Jones— and  some  of  his  neighbours 
openly  expressed  their  conviction,  that,  from  his  conversation  and 
bearing  during  the  latter  years  of  his  life,  he  must  be  considered  as 
receiving  the  Christian  system  to  be  divine.  As  to  the  purity  of 
his  moral  character,  the  amiableness  of  his  disposition  toward  ^all, 
his  tender  affection  to  his  mother  and  wife,  kindness  to  his  neigh- 
bours, and  good  treatment  of  his  servants,  there  was  never  any 
question. 

Among  the  many  orations  called  forth  by  the  death  of  Mr 
Madison,  there  was  one— now  before  me— by  Mr.  Philip  Williams,  of 
"Winchester,  Virginia.  Prom  this  I  select  the  following  passages  :— 

"  His  parents  were  both  pious,  and  instilled  into  his  youthful  mind  the 
moral  and  religious  principles  which  were  the  strong  foundations  of  his 
future  greatness.  His  father  died  before  he  was  elevated  to  the  Presidency, 
but  his  mother  lived  to  see  him  advanced  to  that  office,  and^enjoying  all 
of  worldly  honours  that  the  fondest  mother's  heart  could  wish.  He  re- 
ceived his  classical  education  from  Mr.  Robertson,  a  Scotchman,  who 
resided  in  King  and  Queen,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Martin,  an  Episcopal  clergy 
man,  who  lived  for  many  years  in  his  father's  family.  Blinder  their  in- 
struction he  prepared  himself  for  college,  and  entered  at  Princeton  iu  1769. 
When  he  arrived  at  Princeton,  he  found  that  in  his  literary  acquirements 
he  was  behind  many  of  his  juniors,  and,  with  praiseworthy  emulation, 
determined  to  learn  twice  as  much  each  day  as  was  usually  acquired  in 
that  time.  He  persevered  in  his  determination  until  he  graduated  on  the 
last  Wednesday  in  September,  1771.  He  continued  at  Princeton  until 
1772,  from  a  desire  to  learn  Hebrew  and  to  extend  his  other  studies  under 
the  superintendence  of  Dr.Witherspoon,  then  President  of  the  College,  to 
whom  he  was  sincerely  attached/' 

From  his  early  training  in  pious  principles,  and  from  the  testi- 
mony of  his  minister  and  others  as  to  his  later  years,  Mr.  Williams 
expresses  his  conviction  that  Mr.  Madison  was  an  humble  believer 
in  Christianity.  Mr.  Williams,  though  a  zealous  Episcopalian, 
agrees  with  Madison  in  his  opposition  to  the  law  advocated  by  Mr. 
Henry  for  the  support  of  religion,  and  quotes  the  following  passages 
with  some  others  from  his  argument  on  the  subject,  introducing 
them  with  this  statement : — 

"  The  free  exercise  of  religion  was  protected  by  the  Bill  of  Rights;^  but 
there  were  many  of  our  most  distinguished  men,  who  not  only  insisted 
upon  the  right  of  the  Legislature,  but  urged  the  expediency  of  compelling 
every  man  to  contribute  to  the  support  of  some  Church,  but  giving  him 
the  liberty  to  prescribe  to  which  Church  it  should  be  paid.  At  the  pre- 
ceding session  a  bill  for  a  general  assessment  '  for  the  support  of  Christian 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  101 

teachers/  upon  this  principle,  was  reported  to  the  House.  Its  opponents, 
with  the  double  view  of  enlightening  the  public  mind  and  ascertaining 
more  accurately  the  public  will,  succeeded  in  passing  a  resolution  that  the 
bill  should  be  printed  and  submitted  to  the  people,  that  it  might  be  exa- 
mined by  them,  and  passed  or  rejected  at  the  ensuing  Legislature  as  they 
might  dictate. 

uMr.  Madison  drew  a  memorial  and  remonstrance  against  the  passing 
this  bill,  characterized  by  his  usual  mildness,  good  sense,  and  close  reason- 
ing, which  was  extensively  circulated  throughout  the  State,  and  doubtless 
contributed  in  a  great  degree  to  defeat  the  measure. 

"  This  memorial  was  by  many  attributed  to  the  pen  of  George  Mason. 
While  it  admitted  the  divine  origin  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  paid  a 
just  tribute  to  the  purity  of  its  doctrines,  it  showed  clearly  the  impolicy 
and  danger  of  any  interference  by  the  civil  power  with  the  subject  of 
religion. 

"  This  able  paper  is  so  little  known  that  I  must  trespass  upon  your 
patience  by  some  extracts  from  it : — 

"  '  The  bill  implies  either  that  the  civil  authority  is  a  competent  judge 
of  religious  truth,  or  that  it  may  employ  religion  as  an  engine  of  civil 
policy.  The  first  is  an  arrogant  pretension,  falsified  by  the  extraordinary 
opinions  of  rulers,  in  all  ages  and  throughout  the  world ;  the  second,  an 
unhallowed  perversion  of  the  means  of  salvation.  The  establishment  pro- 
posed by  the  bill  is  not  requisite  for  the  support  of  the  Christian  religion. 
To  say  that  it  is,  is  a  contradiction  to  the  Christian  religion  itself  for 
every  page  of  it  disavows  a  dependence  on  the  power  of  this  world;  it  is 
a  contradiction  to  fact,  for  it  is  known  that  this  religion  both  existed  and 
flourished,  not  only  without  the  support  of  human  laws,  but  in  spite  of 
every  opposition  from  them,  and  not  only  during  the  period  of  miraculous 
aid,  but  long  after  it  had  been  left  to  its  own  evidence  and  the  ordinary 
care  of  Providence. 

'"Experience  testifies  that  ecclesiastical  establishments,  instead  of 
maintaining  the  purity  and  efficacy  of  religion,  have  had  a  contrary  ope- 
ration. 

"  <  The  establishment  in  question  is  not  necessary  for  the  support  of 
civil  government.  What  influence,,  in  fact,  have  ecclesiastical  establish- 
ments had  on  civil  society?  In  some  instances  they  have  been  seen^to 
erect  a  spiritual  tyranny  on  the  ruins  of  the  civil  authority;  in  more  in- 
stances have  they  been  seen  upholding  the  throne  of  political  tyranny;  in 
DO  instance  have  they  been  seen  the  guardians  of  the  liberties  of  the 
people.  Rulers  who  wished  to  subvert  the  public  liberty  may  have  found 
an  established  clergy  convenient  auxiliaries;  a  just  government,  instituted 
to  secure  and  perpetuate  it,  needs  them  not.  Such  a  government  will  be 
best  supported  by  protecting  every  citizen  in  the  enjoyment  of  his  religion, 
with  the  same  equal  hand  which  protects  his  person  and  property,  by 
neither  invading  the  equal  rights  of  any  sect,  nor  suffering  any  sect  to 
invade  those  of  another.  It  will  destroy  that  moderation  and  harmony 
which  the  forbearance  of  our  law  to  intermeddle  with  religion  has  produced 
among  its  several  sects.  Torrents  of  blood  have  been  spilt  in  the  Old 
World  by  vain  attempts  of  the  secular  arm  to  extinguish  religious  discord 
by  proscribing  all  differences  in  religious  opinion.  Time  ^  has  at  length 
revealed  the  true  remedy.  Every  relaxation  of  narrow  and  vigorous  policy, 
whenever  it  has  been  trii4,  has  been  found  to  assuage  the  disease.  The 


OLD   CHURCHEb,    MINISTERS,   AND 

American  theatre  has  exhibited  proofs  that  equal  and  complete  liberty,  if 
It  does  not  wholly  eradicate  it,  sufficiently  destroys  its  malignant  influence 
in  the  health  and  prosperity  of  the  State.  If,  with  the  salutary  effect  of 
this  system  under  our  eyes,  we  begin  to  contract  the  bounds  of  religiout 
freedom,  we  know  no  name  that  will  too  severely  reproach  our^ folly.  ^  At 
least,  let  warning  be  taken  at  the  first-fruits  of  the  threatened  innovation. 
The  very  appearance  of  the  bill  has  transformed  that  Christian  forbearance, 
love,  and  charity,  which  of  late  mutually  prevailed,  into  animosities  and 
jealousies  which  may  not  soon  be  appeased.  What  mischief  may  not  be 
dreaded  should  this  enemy  to  the  public  quiet  be  armed  with  the  force  of 
law! 

"  4The  policy  of  the  law  is  adverse  to  the  diffusion  of  the  Alight  of 
Christianity.  The  first  wish  of  those  who  enjoy  this  precious  gift  ought 
to  be  that  it  may  be  imparted  to  the  whole  race  of  mankind.  Compare 
the  number  of  those  who  have  as  yet  received  it  with  the  number  still 
remaining;  under  the  dominion  of  false  religion,  and  how  small  is  the 
former !  "Does  the  policy  of  the  bill  tend  to  lessen  the  disproportion  ?  No; 
it  at  once  discourages  those  who  are  strangers  to  the  light  of  truth  from 
coming  into  the  regions  of  it,  and  countenances,  by  example,  the  nations 
who  continue  in  darkness,  in  shutting  out  those  who  might  convey  it  to 
them.  Instead  of  levelling  as  far  as  possible  every  obstacle  to  the  victo- 
rious progress  of  truth,  the" bill,  with  an  ignoble  and  unchristian  timidity, 
would  circumscribe  it  with  a  wall  of  defence  against  the  encroachment  of 
error. 

u  *  Finally,  the  equal  rights  of  every  citizen  to  the^free  exercise  of  his 
religion,  according  to  the  dictates  of  his  conscience,  is  held  by^the  same 
tenure  with  all  our  other  rights.  If  we  recur  to  its  origin,  it  is  equally 
the  gift  of  nature;  if  we  weigh  its  importance,  it  cannot  be  less  dear  to  us; 
if  we  consult  the  declaration  of  those  rights  which  pertain  to  the  good 
people  of  Virginia,  as  the  basis  and  foundation  of  government,  it  is  enu- 
merated with  equal  solemnity,  or  rather  with  studied  emphasis.  Either, 
then,  we  must  say  that  the  will  of  the  Legislature  is  the  only  measure  of 
their  authority,  and  that,  in  the  plenitude  of  this  authority,  they  may 
sweep  away  all  our  fundamental  rights,  or  that  they  are  bound  to  leave 
this  particular  right  untouched  and  sacred;  either  we  must  say  that  they 
may  control  the  freedom  of  the  press,  may  abolish  the  trial  by  jury,  may 
swallow  up  the  executive  and  judiciary  powers  of  the  State, — nay,  that  they 
may  annihilate  our  very  right  of  suffrage  and  erect  themselves  into  an  in- 
dependent and  hereditary  assembly;  or  we  must  say  that  they  have  no 
authority  to  enact  into  a  law  the  bill  under  consideration/  " 

THE   CHURCHES   IN   MADISON  AND   RAPPAHANNOCK. 

The  following  letter  from  the  Rev.  Mr,  Leavell,  the  present 
minister  of  these  counties,  contains  all  that  I  have  been  able  to 
Collect  concerning  old  Bloornfield  parish  :— 

«  DEAR  BISHOP:— I  have  endeavoured  to  obtain  all  the  information  to 
fre  had  respecting  the  old  parish  of  Bloomfield, — embracing  a  section  of 
tountry  now  known  as  Madison  and  Rappahannock.  What  I  have 
gathered  is  from  the  recollections  of  the  venerable  Mrs.  Sarah  Lewis,  now 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  103 

m  her  eighty-second  year.  Mrs.  Lewis  is  descended  from  the  Pendletons 
and  Gaineses,  of  Culpepper,  the  Vauters,  of  Esses,  and  the  Ruckers. 
From  her  I  learn  that  there  were  two  churches, — the  brick  church,  called 
F.  T.,  which  stood  near  what  is  now  known  as  the  Slate  Mills.  It  took 
its  name  from  being  near  the  starting-point  of  a  survey  of  land  taken  up 
by  Mr.  Frank  Thornton,  who  carved  the  initials  of  his  name — F.  T. — on  an 
oak-tree  near  a  spring,  where  his  lines  commenced.  The  other  church 
was  called  South  Church, — I  presume  from  its  relative  situation,  being 
almost  due  south,  and  about  sixteen  miles  distant,  and  four  miles  below 
the  present  site  of  Madison  Court-House.  It  was  a  frame  building  and 
stood  on  the  land  of  Richard  Vauters.  Both  buildings  were  old  at  the 
commencement  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  vsoon  after,  from  causes 
common  to  the  old  churches  and  parishes  in  Virginia,  went  into  slow  decay. 
The  first  minister  she  recollects  as  officiating  statedly  in  these  churches 
was  a  Mr.  lodell,  (or  Iredell,)  who  was  the  incumbent  in  1790  or  1792. 
He  remained  in  the  parish  only  a  few  years,  when  he  was  forced  to  leave 
it  in  consequence  of  heavy  charges  of  immorality.  He  was  succeeded  by 
the  Rev.  Mr.  O'Niel,  an  Irishman,  who  had  charge  of  the  parish  for  some 
years,  in  connection  with  the  Old  Pine  Stake  and  Orange  Churches.  He 
was  unmarried,  and  kept  school  near  the  Pine  Stake  Church,  which  stood 
near  to  Raccoon  Ford,  in  Orange  county.  Mr.  John  Conway,  of  Madison, 
was  a  pupil  of  his,  and  relates  some  things  which  I  may  here  mention,  if 
you  are  not  already  weary  of  the  evil  report  of  old  ministers.  He  played 
whist,  and  on  one  occasion  lost  a  small  piece  of  money,  which  the  winner 
put  in  his  purse,  and  whenever  he  had  occasion  to  make  change  (he  was  a 
sheriff)  would  exhibit  it,  and  refuse  to  part  with  it,  because  he  had  won  it 
from  the  parson.  He  also  took  his  julep  regularly,  and,  to  the  undoing  of 
one  of  his  pupils,  invited  him  to  join  him  in  the  social  glass.  Still,  he  was 
considered  as  a  sober  man.  Mr.  O'Niel  left  these  churches  ab«.»ut  the  year 
1800.  After  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Woodville  occasionally  performed  services 
'there.  After  the  parish  became  vacant,  and  the  churches  nad  gone  to 
decay,  the  Lutheran  minister,  a  Mr.  Carpenter,  officiated  at  the  baptisms, 
marriages,  and  funerals  of  the  Episcopal  families.  It  was  at  the  old 
Lutheran  Church,  near  the  court-house,  that  some  of  our  lirst  political 
men  in  Virginia,  when  candidates  for  Congress,  held  meetings  and  made 
speeches  on  Sundays,  after  the  religious  services.  The  same  ^as  also  done 
in  other  places,  under  the  sanction  of  Protestant  ministers. 

"The  Episcopal  families  around  the  churches  above  ment) _»ned  were  the 
Ruckers,  Barbours,  Beales,  Keastleys,  Lewises,  Blafords,  Vauters,  Strothers, 
Thorntons,  Burtons,  Conways,  Gipsons,  Pannells,  Gaineses. 

"  Since  the  resuscitation  of  the  Church  in  Virginia,  almough  a  long 
time  after  the  commencement  of  the  same,  efforts  have  been  made  to  re- 
vive .the  Church  in  the  old  Bloomfield  parish.  A  new  brick  church  has 
been  put  up  at  Madison  Court-House,  and  for  a  time  there  was  a  most 
encouraging  prospect  of  a  considerable  congregation  at  tiiat  place  -,  but 
emigration,  the  bane  of  so  many  other  rising  congregations  in  Virginia, 
has  sadly  reduced  our  numbers  and  disappointed  our  hopes. 

"  Since  the  first  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  churches  in  Madison,  the  follow- 
ing clergymen,  ministers  of  the  adjoining  counties  of  Orange,  Culpepper, 
and  Rappahannock,  have  given  a  portion  of  their  time  and  labours  to 
Madison: — The  Rev.  Mr.  Lamon,  the  Rev,  Mr.  Doughen,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Cole,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Brown,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Earnest,  the  Rev.  Mr,  LeavelL 


104  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

"  Of  late  years  tlie  county  of  Rappahannock  lias  been  formed,  partly,  I 
believe,  from  Madison,  and  a  parish  organized  in  the  same.  Through  the 
zealous  efforts  of  a  few  individuals,  a  neat  brick  church  has  been  put  up 
at  Woodville,  in  that  county.  Previous  to  this  the  Rev.  Mr.  Brown  spent 
some  years  in  the  parish,  labouring  there  and  in  Madison.  A  few  years 
since  the  Rev.  W.  H.  Pendleton,  of  Leeds  parish,  Fauquier,  rendered  them 
regular  though  unfrequent  services.  For  the  last  three  years  the  Eev. 
Mr.  Leavel!  has  been  dividing  his  time  and  labours  equally  between  the 
*wo  counties  of  Madison  and  Rappahannock. 


FAMILIES   OP   VIRGINIA.  105 


ARTICLE  LVIL 

Northern  Neck  of  Virginia. — Fairfax  and,  Carter  Families, 

WE  enter  now  on  that  most  interesting  portion  of  Virginia  called 
the  Northern  Neck,  which,  beginning  on  the  Chesapeake  Bay,  lies 
between  the  Potomac  and  Rappahannock  Rivers,  and  crossing  the 
Blue  Ridge,  or  passing  through  it,  with  the  Potomac,  at  Harper's 
Ferry,  extends  with  that  river  to  the  heads  thereof  in  the  Alleghany 
Mountains,  and  thence  by  a  straight  line  crosses  the  North  Moun- 
tain and  Blue  Ridge,  at  the  head-waters  of  the  Rappahannock,  By 
common  consent  this  is  admitted  to  be  the  most  fertile  part  of 
Virginia,  and  to  abound  in  many  advantages,  whether  we  consider 
the  rich  supply  of  fish  and  oysters  in  the  rivers  and  creeks  of  the 
tide-water  portion  of  it  and  the  rapid  growth  of  its  forests  and 
improvable  character  of  its  soil,  or  the  fertility  of  the  lands  of  the 
valley,  so  much  of  which  is  evidently  alluvial. 

There  were  settlements  at  an  early  period  on  the  rich  banks  of 
the  Potomac  and  Rappahannock  by  families  of  note,  who  took  pos- 
session of  those  seats  which  originally  belonged  to  warlike  tribes 
of  Indians,  which  latter  were  forced  to  give  way  to  the  superior 
prowess  of  the  former.  Of  some  of  these  families  and  their  abodes 
we  shall  have  occasion  to  make  mention  in  our  progress  along  the 
parishes  lying  upon  the  two  rivers.  It  is  not  inconsistent  with  the 
religious  character  and  design  of  our  work  to  begin  with  some 
notice  of  that  family  to  which  the  whole  proprietorship  of  the 
Northern  Neck  originally  belonged,  by  a  grant  from  the  Crown, 
especially  as,  both  in  England  and  in  Virginia,  so  many  of  that 
name  have  been  attached  to  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  some  of 
whom  have  been  bright  ornaments  of  it. 

In  the  corrupt  and  venal  reign  of  Charles  II.,  the  whole  State 
of  Virginia,  except  such  parts  as  had  been  specially  patented,  was 
made  over  for  a  time  to  Lord  Culpepper.  There  was,  of  course,  a 
good  pecuniary  consideration  given  to  the  King  for  quitrents. 
Lord  Culpepper  was  not  only  the  proprietary  of  the  Colony,  but 
had  the  livings  of  all  the  parishes  in  his  gift, — could  bestow  or 
take  away  as  he  pleased.  There  was,  however,  too  much  of  Ame- 
rican feeling,  even  at  that  early  period,  to  submit  to  such  a  mea- 


106  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

sure.  So  heavy  were  the  complaints,  and  so  threatening  the 
opposition,  that  the  King  withdrew  the  grant  of  proprietorship  for 
the  whole  State,  and  restricted  it  with  limitations  to  the  Northern 
Neck,  as  above  described.  By  intermarriage  between  the  families 
of  Culpepper  and  Fairfax,  this  part  of  the  State  came  into  possession 
of  Thomas  Fairfax,  whose  mother  was  daughter  of  Lord  Culpepper, 
himself  being  the  seventh  Fairfax  who  had  inherited  the  title  of 
Lord  Cameron,  He  it  was  who  lived  and  died  in  the  forests  of 
old  Frederick  county,  as  we  have  stated  in  a  former  number,  being 
one  of  the  earliest  vestrymen  of  the  parish,  an  active  magistrate, 
the  patron  of  Washington,  a  friend  of  the  poor,  an  eccentric  but 
most  upright  man. 

The  family  of  Fairfax  is  a  very  ancient  and  respectable  one, 
according  to  English  history  and  family  records.  Within  the  las' 
few  years,  four  octavo  volumes  of  the  Fairfax  history  and  corre- 
spondence have  been  published  in  England,  a  large  portion  of  whose 
contents  were  accidentally  discovered  in  an  old  box,  supposed  to 
contain  tiles,  in  one  of  the  old  family  seats.  They  had  been  se 
creted  there  during  Cromwell's  rebellion,  or  soon  after,  for  safe- 
keeping, and  lest  they  should  fall  into  the  hands  of  those  who  would 
make  an  ill  use  of  them.  Being  in  %  box  which,  when  opened, 
presented  only  tiles  to  the  eye,  they  were  supposed  to  be  lost  for 
the  larger  part  of  two  centuries.  Being  furnished  with  a  copy  of 
these  volumes,  and  having  looked  over  them  for  the  purpose  of 
collecting  any  thing  suitable  to  these  pages,  I  present  the  following 
brief  notices. 

The  Fairfaxes  were  of  true  Saxon  origin,  going  back  to  the  times 
of  William  the  Conqueror.  The  name  Fair-Fax  meant  Fair  Hair. 
In  the  early  history  of  the  family  an  interesting  fact  is  stated  in 
old  English  verse, — viz.:  that  grandfather,  son,  and  grandson,  with 
their  wives  and  children,  lived  in  the  same  house  at  Bradford, — a 
village  in  England. 

**  Under  one  roof  they  dwelt  with  their  three  wives, 
And  at  one  table  eat  what  Grod  gives : 
Our  times  a  sweeter  harmony  have  not  known  : 
There  are  six  persons,  yet  their  hearts  but  one. 
In  these  three  pairs  Bradford  may  justly  glory : 
What  other  place  can  parallel  this  story  ?" 

The  above  lines  were  written  by  the  rector  of  Bradford,  in  lt>47. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  Reformation,  one  of  the  Fairfaxes  was 
sc  staunch  a  Catholic  that  he  disinherited  his  eldest  son  for  taking 
part  in  the  sacking  of  Borne  by  the  Protestants.  -The  following 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  107 

extract  from  his  will  shows  the  character  of  his  creed : — "  First,  I 
will  and  bequeath  my  soul  to  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  Lady 
Mary,  his  blessed  mother."  He  leaves  money  to  the  poor,  and 
also  to  fourteen  poor  persons  with  which  to  buy  black  gowns  and 
torches  for  attendance  at  his  funeral.  In  a  few  generations,  how- 
ever, after  this,  we  find  Komanism  supplanted  by  as  staunch  a 
Protestantism.  Thomas  Fairfax,  the  first  who  had  a  peerage,  and 
for  which,  besides  many  civil  and  military  services,  he  had  to  pay 
fifteen  hundred  pounds  to  King  James  I.  in  his  pecuniary  diffi- 
culties, was  a  Protestant,  and  sympathized  with  Cromwell  in  his 
contest  with  Charles  L  His  son  Ferdinand  distinguished  himself 
in  Cromwell's  army ;  and  his  grandson  Thomas  was  the  celebrated 
Lord  Fairfax,  one  of  the  leaders  in  the  rebel  army. 

The  first  Thomas,  who  purchased  the  title,  had  a  brother  named 
Edward,  who  signalized  himself  by  translating  "Tasso's  Jerusalem 
Delivered"  into  a  smooth  English,  before  unknown.  In  a  work  on 
Demonology,  he  thus  declares  his  religious  belief  and  ecclesiastical 
position: — UI  am,  in  religion,  neither  a  fanatic  Puritan  nor  super- 
stitious Papist,  but  so  settled  in  conscience,  that  I  have  the  sure 
ground  of  God's  word  for  all  I  believe,  and  the  commendable 
ordinances  of  our  English  Church  to  approve  all  I  practise." 

The  will  of  Ferdinando  Fairfax,  father  of  the  great  General  in 
Cromwell's  army,  differs  much  from  that  of  his  Romish  ancestor. 
Instead  of  commending  his  soul  to  Lady  Mary,  in  conjunction  with 
her  son,  his  will  runs  thus : — "  First,  I  commend  my  soul  to  their 
infinite  Majesties,  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost, — the 
same  God  who  hath  with  his  manifold  blessings  been  gracious  to 
me  in  this  world,  and  whose  goodness,  in  his  great  mercy,  I  hope 
to  enjoy  in  heaven.  Next,  I  give  my  body  to  be  buried,  without 
much  pomp  or  ceremony,  in  what  place  it  shall  please  God  to  call 
me  out  of  this  sinful  world ;  but,  if  with  convenience  it  may  be,  I 
desire  to  be  interred  in  the  parish  of  Bolton  Percy,  near  the  body 
of  my  dear  wife."  A  sensible  and  pious  will,  worthy  of  imitation. 

This  parish  of  Bolton  Percy  was  one  in  which  his  brother^  the 
Rev,  Henry  Fairfax,  ministered.  He  appears  to  have  been  a  truly 
pious  man,  and  his  wife  to  have  been  an  helpmeet  to  him.  Some 
interesting  letters,  written  before  and  after  their  marriage,  show 
them  to  have  been  well  formed  by  nature  and  grace  for  the  position 
which  they  chose  in  preference  to  all  others.  While  the  country 
was  full  of  confusion  and  bloodshed,  and  his  father,  brother,  and 
nephew  were  so  actively  engaged  in  revolutionary  scenes,  lie 
quietly  performed  his  duties  as  a  parish  minister,  molesting  none, 


108  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

and  being  unmolested  "by  any.  He  had  two  sons :  one  of  them* 
Bryan,  was  a  scholar  and  author ;  another,  Henry,  was  the  fourth 
Lord  Fairfax,  inheriting  the  title  from  the  great  General,  who  had 
no  son.  His  son,  who  was  the  grandson  of  the  humble  curate 
of  Bolton  Percy,  was  also  inheritor  of  the  title,  and  married  the 
daughter  of  Lord  Oulpepper.  Their  son  Thomas  was  the  emigrant 
to  America.  At  his  death,  his  brother  Robert,  in  England,  in- 
herited the  title,  who,  dying  without  issue,  bequeathed  his  estate 
to  the  Eev.  Denny  Martin,  a  relative  of  the  family,  who  assumed 
the  name  of  Fairfax.  The  title,  however,  descended  to  the  Rev. 
Bryan  Fairfax,  minister  of  the  Episcopal  Church  of  Alexandria, 
who  was  the  son  of  William  Fairfax,  of  Belvoir,  the  friend  of 
Washington,  and  manager  of  the  estates  of  Lord  Fairfax  after  the 
death  of  Robert  Carter,  alias  King  Carter,  of  Lancaster. 

Before  proceeding  further  with  our  brief  notice  of  the  Fairfax 
family  in  Virginia,  I  must  add  a  word  as  to  the  celebrated  Genera* 
in  Cromwell's  army.  Marrying  into  a  Presbyterian  family,  anu 
espousing  a  cause  much  patronized  by  that  denomination,  he  in- 
clined, for  a  time  at  least,  to  that  persuasion.  He  appears  to  have 
been  an  upright  and  conscientious  man.  The  language  of  his  let- 
ters sometimes  savours  not  a  little  of  that  which  marked  the  com- 
munications of  Cromwell ;  but  his  sincerity  was  never  questioned, 
— which  cannot  be  said  of  Cromwell,  notwithstanding  all  the  praises 
heaped  upon  him  of  late  years.  His  great  General  (Fairfax)  could 
not  bring  himself  to  pursue  the  ill-counselled,  obstinate,  and  tyran- 
nical Charles  to  the  scaffold,  but  retired  into  private  life  until  the 
time  came  to  put  an  end  to  the  troubles  of  the  Commonwealth  by 
the  restoration  of  monarchy,  in  which  he  took  an  active  part.  He 
had  an  only  child, — a  daughter,  who  married  the  profligate  Duke 
of  Buckingham  and  led  a  suffering  life.  Her  relative,  Bryan 
Fairfax,  the  author,  in  writing  of  her,  says,  "  She  was  an  example 
of  virtue  and  piety  in  a  vicious  age  and  debauched  court;"  adding, 
"  David  tells  us,  6  Men  of  high  degree  are  a  lie,  (they  promise  and 
never  perform,)  and  men  of  low  degree  are  vanity/  (that  is,  have 
nothing  to  give.)" 

Before  leaving  the  English  connections  of  this  family,  it  may  not 
be  without  interest  to  mention,  that  there  appears  to  have  been  an 
intimate  friendship  between  the  Herberts  and  Fairfaxes  in  the 
mother-country,  which  may  have  laid  the  foundation  of  that  which 
was  established  between  some  of  them  in  this.  The  same  may  be 
said  in  relation  to  the  many  matrimonial  connections  between  the 
Fairfaxes  and  Carys  of  Virginia.  I  meet  with  a  notice  of  one 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  109 

occurring  in  England,  which,  may  have  led  to  those  in  America. 
Coming  back  to  Virginia,  with  my  notices  of  this  family,  I  take 
pleasure  in  recording  the  proofs  of  genuine  piety  in  the  Rev.  Bryan 
Fairfax.  On  going  to  England  to  receive  the  title,  and  perhaps 
some  property  with  it,  he  met  with  much  trouble,  delay,  and  morti- 
fication. The  Earl  of  Buchan,  General  Washington's  friend,  ad- 
dressed a  letter  of  religious  sympathy  and  condolence  to  him,  to 
which  he  thus  responds: — "I  have  the  happiness  to  say  with  the 
Psalmist,  in  respect  of  God's  dealings  toward  me,  ;  I  know  that  of 
very  faithfulness  thou  hast  caused  me  to  be  troubled.'"  I  have 
also  seen  and  published  a  sermon  of  his,  in  which  the  evangelical 
plan  of  salvation  is  most  distinctly  and  happily  set  forth.  He  also 
married  into  the  Gary  family, — his  marriage  being  one  of  five  oc- 
curring between  the  families  in  the  course  of  a  few  years.  Mr. 
William  Fairfax,  of  Belvoir,  near  Mount  Vernon,  the  father  of  the 
Rev.  Bryan  Fairfax,  had  married  one  of  the  same.  One  of  his 
daughters  was  married  to  General  Washington's  elder  brother 
Lawrence,  the  owner  of  Mount  Vernon,  by  which  means  it  came  to 
pass  that  there  was  such  an  intimacy  between  the  General  and  the 
Fairfax  family,  and  that  matrimonial  connections  between  the 
Washington  and  Fairfax  families  have  been  so  multiplied. 

I  have  thus  unavoidably  been  led,  in  tracing  the  history  of  this 
family,  to  speak  of  titles  and  great  possessions,  which  are  now  all 
gone  and  were  of  little  worth  while  had. 

Let  me  now  address  a  few  admonitory  words  to  those  who  still 
bear  the  name,  or  in  whose  veins  the  blood  of  their  ancestors  con- 
tinues to  flow,  and  many  of  whom  are  still  to  be  found  in  our  State 
and  land.  I  have  adduced  some  interesting  proofs  of  the  Protest- 
ant, evangelical  piety  in  a  number  of  your  ancestors.  Show  your 
estimate  of  a  respectable  ancestry,  by  faithfully  copying  their 
excellencies.  Say  not  that  you  have  Abraham  for  your  father,  said 
our  Lord,  for  God  is  able  to  raise  up  children  unto  Abraham  out 
of  the  stones  of  the  earth.  He  bids  them  to  do  the  works  of  Abra- 
ham in  order  to  receive  his  favour.  Tour  ancestry  may,  and  will 
be,  only  a  shame  to  you,  except  you  copy  what  is  worthy  of  imita- 
tion in  their  character  and  conduct.  I  especially  ask  your  atten- 
tion to  one  fact  in  the  preceding  account.  In  a  few  generations, 
as  I  have  stated,  three  of  your  ancestors  have  chosen  the  sacred 
ministry  as  their  profession,  in  preference  to  the  army,  the  navy, 
or  any  other  pursuit.  Doubtless  many  others  of  their  wide-spread 
relations  have  done  the  same.  I  counsel  you,  as  you  would  regain 
far  more  than  lost  titles  and  lands,  that  you  covet  from  the  Lord  in 


110  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

behalf  of  your  sons  the  highest  of  all  honours, — the  privilege  of 
seeking  lost  souls,  and  turning  sinners  to  righteousness :  then  will 
they  shine,  not  on  the  page  of  earthly  history,  but  as  "stars  in  the 
kingdom  of  God  forever." 

SKETCH   OF   THE   CARTER   FAMILY. 

This  may  with  propriety  follow  that  of  the  Fairfaxes,  as  Mr. 
Robert  Carter — called  King  Carter — was  for  a  long  time  the  agent 
and  representative  of  the  Culpepper  and  Fairfax  families,  and  as  his 
representatives  have  been  so  numerous  and  respectable  in  the 
Northern  Keck. 

The  first  of  the  family,  so  far  as  is  known,  settled  in  Upper 
Norfolk,  now  Nanseinond  county,  and  was  a  member  of  the  House 
of  Burgesses  in  1649.  In  the  year  1654,  we  find  him  a  Burgess 
from  Lancaster  county,  and  Commander-in-chief  of  the  forces  sent 
against  the  Bappahannock  Indians.  He  continued  to  be  a  member 
of  the  House  of  Burgesses  for  some  years.  Both  himself  and  his 
eldest  son  John  appear  on  the  vestry-book  as  members  of  the 
vestry  in  the  year  1666,  the  father  having  been  acting  in  that 
capacity  before, — how  long  not  known.  The  father,  who  died  in 
1669,  had  previously  built,  by  contract,  the  first  church  standing 
on  the  spot  where  Christ  Church  now  is,  and  the  vestry  received  it 
at  the  hands  of  his  son  John,  in  six  months  after  the  father's  death. 
The  name  of  John  Carter,  1702,  is  still  to  be  seen  on  an  old  dial- 
post  of  cedar,  which  was  taken  out  of  the  ground,  near  the  church- 
door,  some  years  since,  and  placed  under  the  pulpit  in  the  present 
Christ  Church.  The  first  John  Carter  had  three  wives, — 1st,  Jane, 
the  daughter  of  Morgan  Glyn,  by  whom  he  had  George  and  Eleanor ; 
2d,  Ann,  the  daughter  of  Cleave  Carter,  probably  of  England; 
3d,  Sarah,  the  daughter  of  Grabriel  Ludlowe,  by  whom  he  had 
Sarah.  All  these  died  before  him,  and  he  was  buried  with  them, 
near  the  chancel,  in  the  church  which  he  built,  and  the  tombstone 
from  which  we  take  the  above  covers  them  all,  being  still  in  the 
same  position  in  the  present  church.  He  had  also  a  son  named 
Charles,  of  whom  nothing  is  known.  His  son  Robert  was  by  his 
last  wife,  Sarah  Ludlowe.  The  eldest  son,  John,  married, — 1st, 
Elizabeth  Wormley,  and  2d,  a  Miss  Loyd,  and  had  issue.  Of  this 
branch  we  have  no  account,  and  must  confine  ourselves  to  that  of 
Robert,  alias  King  Carter.  He  married  twice : — first,  a  Miss  Ar- 
mistead ;  next,  a  widow  "Willis,  daughter  of  Thomas  Landon,  of 
England  He  had  ten  children  by  the  two  wives.  Those  of  whom 


FAMILIES    OF    VIRGINIA.  Ill 

we  have  information  were  John,  Elizabeth,  Judith,  Ann,  Robert  of 
Nomini,  Charles,  Landon  of  Sabine  Hall,  Mary,  Lucy,  and  George. 
The  eldest  son,  John,  married  Miss  Hill,  and  was  Secretary  of  State 
to  the  Colony,  having  to  pay  one  thousand  five  hundred  pounds 
sterling  for  the  office.  His  daughter  Elizabeth  married,  first  Mr. 
Nathaniel  Burwell,  of  Gloucester,  and  then  Dr.  George  Nicholas, 
of  Williamsburg.  His  daughter  Judith  married  the  first  Mann 
Page,  of  Gloucester,  and  lived  with  him  at  Rosewell.  His  daughter 
Ann  married  Benjamin  Harrison,  of  Berkeley.  His  son  Robert 
married  a  Miss  Bladen.  His  son  Charles  married  first  a  Miss 
Walker,  then  a  Miss  Byrd,  sister  of  Mr.  Byrd,  of  Westover,  lastly 
a  Miss  Taliafero.  His  son  Landon,  of  Sabine  Hall,  married  first 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Mr.  Wormley,  of  Rosegill,  then  Maria,  a 
sister  of  Mr.  Byrd,  of  Westover,  then  a  Miss  Beale.  His  youngest 
child,  Lucy,  married  Henry  Fitzhugh,  of  King  George  county. 
Thus  we  have  disposed  of  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Mr.  Carter, 
of  Corotoman,  and  their  marriages.  To  attempt  to  do  the  same 
even  with  his  grandchildren,  much  more  with  their  descendants, 
would  not  merely  exceed  the  bounds  prescribed  to  such  genealogies 
in  these  notices,  but  would  require  a  small  volume.  Suffice  it  to 
say,  that,  besides  intermarriages  one  with  another,  the  family  of 
Carter  may  be  found  intermingled,  not  only  with  those  already 
mentioned,  but  with  those  of  Moore,  Lee,  Berkeley,  Champe,  Skip- 
with,  Braxton,  Nelson,  Waller,  Randolph,  Brown,  Clayborne, 
Tasker,  Churchill,  Chiswell,  Minor,  Brooke,  Thornton,  Baylor, 
Grymes,  Peck,  Mitchell,  Harris ;  and  should  we  attempt  to  bring 
down  the  list  to  present  times,  it  would  contain  others  almost  with- 
out limit.  Out  of  the  number  of  descendants,  of  whom  both 
Church  and  State  might  well  be  proud,  it  would  be  invidious  to 
select.  So  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  judge  by  observation  and 
learn  by  report,  we  may  be  permitted  to  say  that  there  has  been 
much  of  the  amiable  and  the  pious  in  the  family,  sometimes  mixed 
with  a  portion  of  eccentricity  in  individuals  of  it.  In  Councillor 
Carter,  of  Nomini,  the  grandson  of  King  Carter,  this  peculiarity 
was  found  in  a  large  measure.  Early  in  life  his  disposition  was 
marked  by  a  tendency  to  wit  and  humour.  Afterward  he  was  the 
grave  Councillor,  and  always  the  generous  philanthropist.  At  a 
later  day  he  became  scrupulous  as  to  the  holding  of  slaves,  and 
manumitted  great  numbers.  The  subject  of  religion  then  engrossed 
his  thoughts.  Abandoning  the  religion  of  his  fathers,  he  adopted 
the  creed  of  the  Baptists,  and  patronized  their  young  preachers, 
having  a  chapel  in  his  own  house  at  Nomini.  After  a  time  he  em- 


112  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

braced  the  theory  of  Swedenborg,  and  at  length  died  an  unhappy 
death-dreading  Papist.  All  the  while  he  was  a  most  benevolent 
and  amiable  man.  I  might  mention  many  others,  of  both  sexes, 
with  whom  I  have  had  personal  and  intimate  acquaintance,  who 
have  been  beautiful  specimens  of  piety,  without  the  versatility  and 
inconsistency  of  Mr.  Carter,  of  NominL  I  was  not  acquainted 
with  Mr.  Charles  Carter,  of  Shirley,  though  it  has  been  my  happi- 
ness to  know  many  of  his  descendants  and  to  love  them  for  their 
work's  sake.  I 'find  his  name  on  the  list  of  those  few  devoted 
friends  of  the  Church  who  after  the  Revolution  met  together  in 
Convention  at  Richmond,  to  rescue  the  things  that  remained 
and  were  ready  to  perish.  I  have,  however,  in  the  following  letter, 
a  better  proof  of  his  love  to  the  Church  and  its  ministers  than  any 
mere  attendance  on  Conventions  could  furnish.  It  was  addressed 
to  his  old  friend  and  pastor,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Currie,  of  Lancaster,  who 
was  the  faithful  minister  of  Christ  Church  parish  for  fifty  years. 
Anticipating  his  own  death  as  well  as  that  of  Mr.  Currie,  as 
events  which  might  occur  before  that  of  Mrs.  Currie,  he  thus  gene- 
rously provides  for  her  support  during  her  remaining  days.  She 
did  survive  her  husband  a  number  of  years,  and  doubtless  enjoyed 
the  bounty  of  Mr.  Carter. 

"Letter  of  Mr.  Charles  Carter,  of  Shirley,  10  the  Rev.  Mr.  Currie,  at  the 
Glebe^  Lancaster  county,  Virginia. 

*«  SHIRLEY,  May  12,  1790. 

"  MY  DEAR  FRIEND  : — Tour  letters,  the  one  by  Mrs.  Carter,  and  the 
other  enclosing  your  amiable  daughter's  to  that  good  lady,  are  both  come 
safe  to  hand,  and  you  may  rest  assured  that  nothing  could  give  my  family 
a  greater  pleasure  than  to  hear  and  know  from  yourself—that  is  to  say, 
tolhave  it  under  your  own  signature — that  you  still  enjoy  a  tolerable  share 
of  health;  and  your  friend,  Mrs.  Ann  Butler,  [Mr.  Carter's  second  wife,] 
begs  leave  to  join  with  me  in  congratulating  both  you  and  Mrs.  Currie 
upon  being  blessed,  not  only  with  dutiful,  healthy,  and  robust  children, 
but  clever  and  sensible.  We  rejoice  to  hear  it,  and  pray  God  they  may 
prosper  and  become  useful  members  of  society. 

u  As  you  are  of  Caledonian  race,  you  may  yet  outlive  a  Buckskin  - 
should  it  so  happen,  my  will  has  directed  five  hundred  acres  of  my  land 
at  Nantypyron  to  be  laid  off  for  the  use  of  Mrs.  Currie  for  and  during 
her  natural  life.  In  the  mean  time,  no  power  that  I  know  of  can  deprive 
you  of  your  right  to  the  glebe.  Our  best  wishes  attend  you  and  yours, 
and  believe  me  when  I  subscribe  myself,  dear  sir, 

"  Tour  affectionate  friend  and  servant, 

"  CHARLES  CARTER/' 

Although  Mr.  Currie  was  a  man  who,  judging  from  a  sermon  of 
his  in  my  possession,  put  his  trust  in  Grod  for  his  fatherless  children 
and  widow  when  taken  from  them,  yet  it  must  have  been  truly 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  113 

comforting  to  know  that  this  provision  was  made  for  them  by  a 
generous  friend.  The  sermon  is  on  the  text,  (Matthew  vi.  34,) 
"  Take  no  thought  for  to-morrow,  for  the  morrow  shall  take  thought 
for  the  things  of  itself.  Sufficient  unto  the  day  is  the  evil  thereof/' 
It  is  a  very  sensible  and  pious  discourse  on  the  subject  treated  of, 
showing,  among  other  things,  the  impropriety  of  all  uneasy  thoughts 
about  our  earthly  condition,  and  is  in  some  respects  a  "conseio  ad 
clerum"  one  to  poor  clergymen.  I  find  on  the  cover  of  it  these 
words : — 

"  A  sermon  written  by  my  father,  which  I  have  determined  to  read  at 
least  once  a  year.  «  £.  GUERIE. 

'September  29,  1808." 

In  relation  to  the  above  act  of  generosity,  on  the  part  of  Mr. 
Carter,  to  the  widow  and  children  of  a  worthy  clergyman,  though 
there  be  few  who  can  follow  his  example  in  affording  them  the  use  of 
a  farm  of  five  hundred  acres,  yet  there  are  many  who  can  contribute 
something  to  their  comfort;  and  the  thought  that  there  are  many 
who  will  do  it  must  be  a  great  solace  to  the  heart  of  a  dying  minister 
when  taking  leave  of  his  fatherless  ones  and  widow.  It  is  thus 
that  God  fulfils  his  promise  when  he  bids  them  leave  their  father- 
less ones  to  him,  and  let  their  widows  trust  in  him.  And  let  me, 
in  connection  with  this  case,  recommend  to  the  pious  charity  of  the 
living  and  dying  members  of  our  communion  the  two  societies  now 
established  in  our  diocese, — the  Society  of  the  Widows  and  Orphans 
of  Deceased  Clergymen,  and  that  for  Disabled,  Superannuated 
Poor  Clergymen.  They  are  both  of  them  worthy  of  patronage. 

Another  instance  of  the  charitable  disposition  of  Mr.  Carter  is 
worthy  of  being  mentioned  and  imitated. 

Solomon  in  one  of  his  Proverbs  says,  "  He  that  withholdeth  corn, 
the  people  shall  curse  him ;  but  blessing  shall  be  upon  the  head  of 
him  that  selleth  it."  Here  is  an  allusion  to  some  covetous  and 
hard-hearted  persons,  who,  in  a  time  of  scarcity  and  suffering 
among  the  poor,  hold  up  their  corn  for  some  high  price  and  will 
not  sell  it.  I  have  been  told  that,  in  a  year  of  this  kind,  Mr.  Carter 
sent  a  vessel  full  of  corn  down  James  River,  disposing  of  it  among 
the  poor  at  a  very  reduced  price,  thus  showing  not  only  his  charity, 
but  his  judgment  in  the  disbursement  of  it.  Let  the  rich  through- 
out our  land  go  and  do  likewise  with  all  manner  of  goods  which 
God  hath  given  them  in  abundance,  and  of  which  others  stand  in 
need. 

A  few  remarks  concerning  him  who  was  called  King  Carter 

VOL.  II.— 8 


114  OLD    CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,   AND 

seem  to  be  called  for,  before  we  close  our  notice  of  this  family. 
From  the  fact  that  such  a  title  was  bestowed  on  him,  the  idea  has 
become  prevalent  in  Virginia  that  he  was  not  only  of  princely  posses- 
sions,  having  numerous  tenants  and  servants,  and  a  splendid  palace 
for  his  residence,  but  that,  as  a  consequence  of  this,  he  was  autho- 
ritative, lordly,  and  arbitrary  in  his  bearing  and  conduct,  moving 
as  a  king  in  the  Colony.  He  ruled  over  the  Colony  for  more  than 
i  year,  until  the  arrival  of  Governor  Gooch.  I  have  in  my  pos- 
session copies  of  two  of  his  letters  during  this  period,  concerning 
a  suspected  clergyman  who  was  desirous  of  getting  the  parish  of 
Wycomico,  in  Northumberland.  They  were  addressed  to  Captain 
Charles  Lee  and  Mr.  Thomas  Berry,  churchwardens  of  the  parish. 
They  breathe  a  Christian  spirit  of  moderation  and  yet  of  decision. 
There  is  nothing  of  a  dictatorial  temper  about  them,  but  only  a 
desire  to  do  his  duty,  in  the  absence  of  a  Governor,  and  in  refer- 
ence to  one  when  he  should  arrive.  It  is  very  certain  that  Mr. 
Carter  and  his  family  were  very  popular  throughout  the  State. 
His  daughters  were  married  to  the  first  men  in  Virginia,  and  his 
sons  to  the  first  ladies  in  Virginia.  At  his  dea/th  a  long  Latin 
inscription,  written  by  some  ripe  scholar,  was  placed  on  his  tomb, 
in  which  the  greatest  virtues  are  assigned  to  him,  and  a  sincere 
piety.  The  epitaph  will  be  found  in  our  next  article,  on  Christ 
Church,  Lancaster  county. 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  115 


ARTICLE  LVIIL 

Parishes  in  Lancaster  County. 

first  mention  which  is  made  of  Lancaster  county  in  Heo- 
aing's  "Statutes  at  Large"  (volume  i.,  page  374)  is  in  1652,  -when 
it  is  represented  in  the  House  of  Burgesses  by  Captain  Henry 
Fleet  and  Mr.  William  Underwood.  At  that  time,  and  for  four 
years  after,  it  included  all  that  is  now  Lancaster,  Middlesex,  Essex, 
and  Richmond  counties.  In  1656,  the  old  county  of  Rappahannock 
was  cut  off  from  Lancaster,  and  contained  what,  in  1692,  was  di- 
vided into  the  two  counties  of  Richmond  and  Essex, — Rappahannock 
being  abolished.  The  county  of  Middlesex  was  not  cut  off  from 
Lancaster  until  about  1664  or  1665,  and,  indeed,  it  is  not  men- 
tioned in  Henning  until  the  year  1675,  when  a  levy  of  twenty-five 
men  from  each  of  the  counties  of  Lancaster  and  Middlesex  is 
ordered  for  a  garrison  in  Stafford  county,  to  protect  the  frontiers 
against  the  Indians.  We  are  enabled  to  approach  very  near  to 
certainty,  as  to  the  time  of  the  division,  by  reference  to  an  old 
vestry-book  of  the  church  in  Middlesex,  beginning  in  1664.  In 
1668  the  vestry  pass  an  order  that  a  petition  should  be  distributed 
among  the  people,  praying  the  Assembly  to  ratify  a  former  Act 
dividing  Lancaster  into  two  counties ;  from  which  it  would  seem 
that  something  was  wanting  to  complete  the  division,  though  it  must 
have  been  acted  on,  in  some  way,  a  year  or  two  before.  In  the 
county  of  Lancaster,  when  including  Middlesex,  there  were  four 
parishes, — two  on  each  side  of  the  river.  Those  on  the  south  side 
of  the  river  were  called  Lancaster  parish  and  Piankatank  until,  at 
an  early  period,  they  were  merged  in  one  and  called  Christ  Church. 
Those  on  the  north  side  were  St.  Mary's  and  Christ  Church  until, 
at  a  much  later  period,  they  were  united  in  what  is  now  Christ 
Church. 

The  vestry-book  of  Christ  Church,  Lancaster,  before  the  union 
•  of  the  two  parishes,  commenced,  I  think,  about  the  year  1654.  I 
saw  it  for  the  first  time  about  twenty  years  ago,  and  again  three 
years  after,  I  believe,  and  took  extracts  from  it,  some  of  which 
were  published.  Soon  after  this  it  disappeared,  and,  though  care- 
fully sought  for  since,  can  nowhere  be  found.  For  want  of  it  we 


116  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

Lose  the  names  of  the  first  vestrymen,  (except  those  of  the  firs 
John  Carter  and  his  sons  John  and  Robert,)  and  some  acts  of  the 
vestry,  not  remembered  or  written  down  by  myself.  I  have  re- 
cently been  furnished  with  the  vestry-book  of  St.  Mary's  parish, 
beginning  in  the  year  1739,  and  continuing  after  its  union  with 
Christ  Church,  in  1752,  until  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  But  we 
still  have  to  lament  the  loss  of  the  proceedings  of  both  parishes 
until  1739,  and  of  Christ  Church  until  1752,  except  so  far  as  I 
have  retained  in  memory,  and  by  print,  the  doings  of  the  latter. 
Something  more  we  have  as  to  the  names  and  acts  of  the  vestry  of 
Christ  Church,  by  reason  of  the  fact  that,  though  the  parishes  were 
separate,  they  always  employed  the  same  minister,  and  met  some- 
times in  what  was  called  a  general  vestry, — that  is,  a  meeting  of 
both, — when  their  names  are  recorded. 

We  will  first  state  such  information  as  we  have  retained  from  the 
last  records  of  Christ  Church  parish.  About,  as  we  believe,  the 
year  1654,  the  name  of  John  Carter,  the  father  of  that  family, 
appears  at  the  head  of  the  vestry-lists,  in  a  large,  bold  hand ;  then 
followed  the  name  of  the  minister,  which  I  do  not  recollect.  The 
same  may  be  said  of  his  eldest  son  John,  and  his  youngest  son 
Robert,  alias  King  Carter.  Their  names  always  preceded  the  mi- 
nister's, and  were  written  in  a  large,  bold  hand.  This  was  one  sign 
that  they  took  the  lead  in  the  vestry, — even  going  before  the  mi- 
nister. In  all  the  other  vestry-books  I  have  seen,  even  in  that  of 
Middlesex,  where,  about  the  same  time,  baronets  were  in  the  ves- 
tries, as  Chicheley  and  Skip  with,  the  minister's  name  was  always 
first.  The  action  of  the  vestry,  doubtless  under  the  influence  of 
the  Carters,  seems  to  have  been  good  in  relation  to  the  exercise  of 
discipline  on  offenders.  One  instance  is  recorded  where  a  fine  of 
fifteen  hundred- weight  of  tobacco  is  imposed  on  a  man  for  swearing ; 
but,  upon  his  pleading  poverty,  it  was  afterward  reduced  to  five 
hundred.  Mr.  Robert  Carter  had  large  possessions  and  numerous 
servants  and  tenants,  as  we  have  already  said.  Tradition  has  it 
that  the  congregation,  which  doubtless  consisted  chiefly  of  his  de- 
pendants, did  not  enter  the  church,  on  Sunday,  until  the  arrival  of 
his  coach,  when  all  followed  him  and  his  family  into  it.  Whether 
this  be  so  or  not,  it  is  certain,  from  the  agreement  on  the  vestry- 
book  when  he  built  the  church,  that  good  provision  was  made  for 
his  tenants  and  servants,  one-fourth  of  the  building  being  secured 
for  their  use,  besides  a  very  large  pew  near  the  pulpit  and  chancel, 
which  he  prepared  for  his  immediate  family. 

The  following  extract  from  my  report  to  the  Convention  in  the 


FAMILIES  OP  VIRGINIA.  117 

year  1838,  after  a  visit  to  the  parishes  in  the  Northern  Neck,  will 
show  what  were  the  impressions  made  upon  me  by  that  venerable 
building, — impressions  renewed  and  deepened  by  my  subsequent 
visit : — 

"My  nest  appointment  was  at  Christ  Church,  Lancaster,  on  the  23d  of 
June.  This  was  the  day  appointed  by  the  Convention  to  be  observed  as  a 
day  of  humiliation,  fasting,  and  prayer;  on  account  of  the  languor  of  the 
Church,  and  the  sins  and  troubles  of  the  nation.  No  temple  of  religion, 
and  no  spot  in  the  diocese,  could  have  been  selected  more  in  accordance 
with  the  solemn  duty  of  that  day,  than  the  old  and  venerable  church  in 
which  three  of  God's  ministers  were  assembled.  T  preached  a  sermon 
adapted  to  the  occasion,  and  then  proposed  that  those  who  were  minded  to 
spend  the  day  as  the  Church  recommended  should  remain  for  some  hours 
at  that  place,  in  suitable  religious  exercises.  A  goodly  number  complied 
with  the  invitation,  and  after  the  interval  of  perhaps  an  hour,  which  was 
spent  in  surveying  the  building  and  the  tombs  around  this  ancient  house 
)f  Grod,  another  service  was  performed,  and  a  second  appropriate  discourse 
#as  preached  by  the  Kev.  Mr.  Nelson,  the  service  having  been  performed 
oy  Mr.  Francis  McGuire,  the  present  minister  of  the  parish.  The  past  - 
history  and  present  condition  of  this  hallowed  spot  and  temple  deserve  a 
more  particular  notice.  This  notice  is  derived  from  the  memorials  fur- 
nished by  the  house  itself,  the  tombstones  around'  and  within,  and  the 
7estry-book  of  the  parish,  kept  from  the  year  1654  to  1770,  to  which  I 
riad  access. 

"  The  present  church  was  built  on  the  site  of  an  older  one,  which  was 
Completed  in  the  year  1670,  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  John  Carter,  the 
<irst  of  that  nar^e,  and  the  great  ancestor  of  many  bearing  that  name  in 
Virginia.  By  the  side  of  the  chancel  is  a  large  marble  slab,  on  which  are 
,he  names  of  John  Carter  and  his  three  wives,  and  several  children,  who 
all  died  before  him  and  were  buried  in  that  spot. 

u  The  church  being  too  small  for  the  increasing  population,  a  larger  one 
^as  meditated,  and  some  change  in  its  location  talked  of,  when  Mr.  Robert 
Carter  (since  known  by  the  name  of  King  Carter)  offered  to  build^  one 
at  his  own  expense,  saying  that  in  consequence  of  his  large  possessions, 
increasing  family,  and  number  of  tenants,  he  had  intended  for  some  time 
to  build  a  larger  one  for  the  parish.  The  offer  was  cheerfully  accepted, 
and  the  present  house  was  completed  about  the  time  of  Mr.  Carter's  death, 

that  is,  about  the  year  1732,— and  exhibits  to  this  day  one  of  the  most 

striking  monuments  of  the  fidelity  of  ancient  architecture  to  be  seen  in 
our  land.  Very  few,  if  any,  repairs  have  been  put  upon  it  :^  the  original 
roof  and  shingles  now  cover  the  house,  and  have  preserved  in  a  state  of 
perfection  the  beautiful  arched  ceilings,  except  in  two  places  which  have 
within  a  few  years  been  a  little  discoloured  by  the  rain,  which  found  it? 
way  through  the  gutters  where  the  shingles  have  decayed.  The  walls  of 
the  house  are  three  feet  thick,  perfect  and  sound.  The  windows  are  large 
and  strong,  having  probably  two-thirds  of  the  original  glass  in  them.  The 
pews  are  of  the  old  fashion,  high-backed,  and  very  firm.  A  very  large 
one  near  the  altar,  and  opposite  the  pulpit,  together  with  the  whole  north 
cross  of  the  building,  was  especially  reserved  by  Mr.  Carter  for  the  use  of 
his  family  and  dependants  in  all  time  to  come. 

kt  It  deserves  to  be  mentioned,  that,  in  addition  to  the  high  backs  which 


H8  OLD   CHURCHES^   MINISTERS,   AND 

always  concealed  the  family  and  prevented  any  of  them  from  gazing 
around  when  sitting  or  kneeling,  a  railing  of  brass  rods  with  damask 
curtains  was  put  around  the  top  of  the  pew,  except  the  part  opposite  the 
pulpit,  in  order,  it  is  supposed,  to  prevent  the  indulgence  of  curiosity 
when  standing.  These  remained  until  a  few  years  since,  and  parts  of  them 
may  probahly  yet  be  found  in  the  possession  of  neighbours  or  relatives.  In 
further  evidence  of  the  fidelity  with  which  the  house  was  built,  I  would 
mention  that  the  pavement  of  its  aisles,  which  is  of  large  freestone,  is 
yet  solid  and  smooth  as  though  it  were  the  work  of  yesterday.  The  old 
walnut  Communion-table  also  stands  firm  and  unimpaired,  and  not  a  round 
from  the  railing  of  the  chancel  is  gone  or  even  loosened.  The  old  marble 
font,  the  largest  and  most  beautiful  I  ever  saw,  is ^  still  there;  and,  what 
will  scarce  be  credited,  the  old  cedar  dial-post,  with  the  name  of  John 
Carter,  1702,  and  which  was  only  removed  a  few  years  since  from  its 
station  without  the  door,  where  it  was  planted  in  the  ground,  is  still  to  be 
seen  in  its  place  of  security  under  the  pulpit.  In  such  a  house,  surrounded 
by  such  memorials,  it  was  delightful  to  read  the  word  of  God  and  the 
prayers  of  the  Church  from  the  old  desk;  to  pronounce  the  commandments 
from  the  altar  near  which  the  two  tables  of  the  law,  the  creed,  and  Lord's 
prayer  are  still  to  be  seen;  in  large  and  legible  characters,  and  then  to 
preach  the  words  of  eternal  life  from  the  high  and  lofty  pulpit,  which 
seemed,  as  it  were,  to  be  hung  in  the  air.  Peculiarly  delightful  it  was  to 
raise  the  voice  in  such  utterances  in  a  house  whose  sacred  form  and 
beautiful  arches  seemed  to  give  force  and  music  to  the  feeblest  tongue 
beyond  any  other  building  in  which  I  ever  performed  or  heard  the  hal- 
lowed services  of  the  sanctuary.  The  situation  of  this  church,  though 
low,  and  surrounded  on  two  of  its  sides  by  woodland,  with  thick  under- 
growth, is  not  without  its  peculiar  interest.  A  few  acres ^  of  open  land, 
with  some  very  large  trees,  chiefly  spreading  walnuts,  furnish  ample  room 
for  the  horses  and  vehicles  of  those  who  attend  it.  An  old  decayed  brick 
wall,  with  a  number  of  graves  and  tombstones  around  the  house,  adds  no 
little  solemnity  to  the  scene.  Among  the  latter,  at  the  east  end  of  the 
house,  within  a  neat  enclosure,  recently  put  up,  are  to  be  seen  the  tombs 
of  Eobert  Carter,  the  builder  of  the  house,  and  of  his  two  wives.  These 
are  probably  the  largest  and  richest  and  heaviest  tombstones  in  our  land. 
A  bag  Latin  inscription  is  to  be  seen  on  that  of  Mr.  Carter.  While  the 
tomb  of  the  husband  is  entire,  those  of  the  wives  appear  to  have  been 
riven  by  lightning,  and  are  separating  and  falling  to  pieces.  Such  is  the 
belief  and  testimony  of  the  neighbours.  It  is  pleasing  to  know  that  a 
considerable  sum  of  money  has  been  subscribed  for  repairing  the  roof 
which  requires  a  new  covering,  and  for  improving  the  interior  of  this 
remarkable  building,  and  that  a  generous  portion  of  it  is  contributed  by 
some  of  the  descendants  of  the  original  builder,  or  those  connected  with 
them,  who,  though  residing  at  a  distance  from  the  spot,  possess  the  land 
around  it,  and  have  given  the  best  assurance  to  the  remaining  families  of 
the  church,  that  it  shall  ever  be  continued  for  its  original  and  sacred 
purposes." 

To  the  foregoing  notices  of  Christ  Church  from  my  report  to  the 
Convention  of  1888>  I  add  the  following  from  memory.  Of  tho 
two  days  spent  in  this  hallowed  spot,  the  one  following  the  day  of 
humiliation  was  a  dark  and,  gloomy  one, — the  sky  being  overcast 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  119 

with  heavy  cluuds,  from  which  showers  were  descending  upon  the 
earth.  To  be  in  that  old  building,  with  only  two-thirds  of  the  glass 
in  the  windows,  on  such  a  day,  had  a  peculiar  interest  in  it  to  a  soul 
at  all  inclined  to  the  love  of  ancient  things.  The  weather  being 

O  O 

mild,  there  was  nothing  to  interrupt  the  indulgence  of  such  a  feel- 
ing. There  was  also  something  to  encourage  it,  in  the  fact  that  an 
aged  lady,  (the  descendant  of  Mr.  Carter,)  whose  two  nieces — the 
eldest  daughters  of  Mr.  Tomliu,  who  lived  near  at  hand — had  on 
the  preceding  day  ratified  their  baptismal  vows,  desired  on  this 
occasion  to  do  the  same.  I  can  never  forget  my  feelings  as  I  stood 
in  the  old  chancel  administering  the  rite,  while  only  a  few  indi- 
viduals, and  they  chiefly  the  descendants  of  the  builder  of  the 
house,  were  here  and  there  to  be  seen  in  the  large  double  pews 
adjoining  the  pulpit  and  chancel.  There  was  a  circumstance 
which  occurred  at  that  time  not  unworthy  to  be  mentioned,  as 
showing  that  we  of  this  day  of  progressive  improvement  are  not 
in  all  things  in  advance  of  our  fathers,  but  in  some  rather  the  con- 
trary. I  spent  the  night  intervening  between  the  wo  above-men- 
tioned days  at  Mr.  Tomlin's  house,  which  was  a  new  one  scarcely 
finished,  and,  while  lying  in  bed  early  in  the  morning  and  looking 
toward  the  ceiling,  suddenly  saw  a  large  portion  of  the  plastering 
giving  way  just  above  me,  leaving  only  time  to  draw  the  covering 
over  my  head  before  it  fell  upon  my  body,  and  not  without  a  slight 
bruise.  I  could  not  help  then  and  often  since  instituting  a  com- 
parison between  the  fidelity  and  durability  of  ancient  and  modern 
architecture.  Here  was  the  ceiling  of  a  private  house,  not  a  year 
old,  tumbling  over  me,  and  there  was  the  heavy  plastering  of  an 
old  church,  built  one  hundred  and  twenty  or  thirty  years  before, 
perfectly  sound  and  impervious  to  rain,  except  in  one  or  two  small 
spots  where  it  was  a  little  discoloured  underneath  the  gutter,  where 
the  shingles  had  decayed.  Where  is  the  house,  built  in  these 
degenerate  days  of  slight  modern  architecture,  which  may  com- 
pare with  Old  Christ  Church,  either  within  or  without  ?  When  a 
few  years  since  it  was  repaired,  as  I  in  my  report  expressed  the 
belief  that  it  would  be,  the  only  repairs  required  were  a  new  roof, 
(and  but  for  the  failure  in  the  gutters  that  would  have  been  un- 
necessary,) the  renewal  of  the  cornices,  supplying  the  broken 
glass,  and  painting  the  pews,  pulpit,  &c.  All  the  rest  was  in  a  most 
perfect  state  of  soundness.  The  shingles,  except  in  the  decayed 
gutters,  were  so  good  that  they  were  sold  to  the  neighbours  around, 
and  will  probably  now  last  longer  than  many  new  ones  just  gotten 
from  the  woods, — having  become  hardened  by  age  on  the  steep  and 


123  OLD   CHUBCHES,   MINISTEBS,  AND 

taunt  roofs  from  which  the  rains  of  more  than  a  century  rushed 
downward,  not  stopping  for  a  moment  to  settle  in  the  joints.  That 
is  one  reason  why  all  of  the  old  roofs  were  more  durable  than  the 
modern, — the  fashionable  taste  for  low  or  flat  ones  leading  to  their 
speedier  decay.  Another  is  the  fact  that  in  former  days  worms,  so 
destructive  now  to  timber,  appear  not  to  have  abounded  as  at 
present,  or  else  some  method  for  drying  and  hardening  all  the  ma- 
terials used  was  adopted,  which  is  now  neglected.  In  taking  off 
the  roof  of  Old  Christ  Church  for  the  purpose  of  renewing  it,  one 
secret  of  the  durability  of  the  plastering  was  discovered.  Besides 
having  mortar  of  the  most  tenacious  kind  and  of  the  purest  white, 
and  laths  much  thicker  and  stronger  than  those  now  in  use,  and 
old  English  wrought  nails, — our  modern  factories  not  then  being- 
known, — the  mortar  was  not  only  pressed  with  a  strong  hand 
through  the  openings  of  the  laths,  but  clinched  on  the  other  side 
by  a  trowel  in  the  hand  of  one  above,  so  as  to  be  fast  keyed  and 
kept  from  falling. 

In  all  respects  the  house  appears  to  have  been  built  in  the  most 
durable  manner,  but  without  any  of  the  mere  trinkets  of  archi- 
tecture. The  form  and  proportion  of  the  house  are  also  most  excel- 
lent, and  make  a  deep  impression  on  the  eye  and  mind  of  the 
beholder.  Though  the  walls  are  three  feet  thick,  yet  such  is  their 
height  and  such  the  short  distance  between  the  windows  and  doors, 
and  such  the  effect  of  the  figure  of  the  cioss,  that  there  is  no  ap- 
pearance of  heaviness  about  them.  The  roof  or  roofs  are  also  very 
steep  and  high,  and  take  the  place  of  tower  or  steeple.  A  steeple 
or  tower  would  indeed  injure  the  whole  aspect  of  the  building. 

For  the  repairing  of  this  house  we  are  indebted  mainly  to  the 
liberality  of  two  brothers, — Mr.  Kelleys, — descendants  of  old  Epis- 
copalians of  the  Northern  Neck.  Not  only  did  they  furnish  far 
the  larger  part  of  the  fifteen  hundred  dollars  required  for  it,  but 
superintended  most  carefully  the  expenditure  of  the  same.  Their 
bodies  lie  side  by  side  within  a  strong  iron  enclosure  near  the 
church*  The  eldest  of  the  brothers  lias  died  within  the  last  two 
years,  leaving,  among  other  bequests,  two  thousand  dollars  to  our 
Theological  Seminary  and  High  School. 

I  am  sure  the  reader  will  be  pleased  in  having  the  following 
epitaphs  added  to  the  foregoing  notices  of  Old  Christ  Church. 

I. 

This  incription  is  to  the  north  of  the  chancel,  in  the  east  end  of 
the  church : — 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  121 

"Here  lyeth  buried  ye  body  of  John  Carter,  Esq.,  who  died  ye  10th  of 
June,  Anno  Domini  1669  ]  and  also  Jane,  ye  daughter  of  Mr.  Morgan 
Glyn,  and  George  her  son,  and  Elenor  Carter,  and  Ann,  ye  daughter  of 
Mr.  Cleave  Carter,  and  Sarah,  ye  daughter  of  Mr.  Gabriel  Ludlow,  and 
Sarah  her  daughter,  which  were  all  his  wives  successively,  and  died  before 
him. 

"  'Blessed  are  ye  dead  which  die  in  ye  Lord ;  even  soe,  saith  ye  Spirit,  for 
they  rest  from  their  labours,  and  their  works  do  follow  them.'" 

II. 

This  inscription  is  in  the  centre  of  the  church,  at  the  intersec- 
tion of  the  aisles  : — 

"Here  lyeth  the  body  of  Mr.  David  Miles,  who  died  the  29th  of  De- 
cember, 1674,  and  in  ye  40th  year  of  his  age. 

"  Hodie  mihi,  eras  tibi.w 
(Mine  to-day,  years  to-morrow.) 

m. 
This  tombstone  is  at  the  east  end  of  the  church  : — 

"H.  S.  E. 

"  Vir  honorabilis  Robertas  Carter,  Armiger,  qui  genus  honestum  dotibus 
eximiis  et  moribus  antiquis  illustravit.  Collegium  Gulielmi  et  Mariae 
temporibus  difficillimis  propugnavit,  Gubernator. 

"  Senatus  Rogator  et  Quaestor  sub  serenissimis  Principibus  Gulielmo, 
Anna,  Georgio  Primo  et  Secundo 

"A  publicis  concilliis  eoncillii  per  sexennium  prases;  plus  anno  Colonise 
Praefectus,  cum  regiam  dignitatem  et  publicam  libertatem  sequali  jure 
asseruit. 

"  Opibus  amplissimis  bene  partis  instructus,  sedem  hanc  sacram?  in 
Deum  pietatis  grande  monumentum  propriis  sumptibus  extrait,  Locu- 
pletavit. 

"  In  omnes  quos  humaniter  excepit  nee  prodigus  nee  parcus  hospes. 
Liberalitatem  in  sign  em  testantur  debita  munifice  remissa. 

"Primo  Juditham,  Johannis  Armistead,  Armigeri,  nliam;  deinde Betty, 
generosa  Landonorum  stirpe  oriundam,  sibi  eonnubio  junctas  habuir  : 
e  quibus  prolem  numerosam  suscepit,  in  qua  erudienda  pecuniae  vim  maxi- 
mam  insumpsit. 

"  Tandem  honorum  et  dieruai  satur;  cum  omnia  vitse  munera  egregise 
prsestitisset,  obiit  Pri.  Non.  Aug.  An.  Dom.  1732,  aet.  69. 

"  Miseri  solamen,  viduse  prs&siduum,  orbi  patrem,  ademptum  lugent.'* 

EAST   OF  THE  CHURCH. 
IV. 

"  Here  lyeth  buried  the  body  of  Judith  Garter,  the  wife  of  Eobert 
Carter,  Esq.,  and  eldest  daughter  of  the  Hon.  John  Armistead,  Esq.,  and 
Judith  his  wife.  She  departed  this  life  the  23d  day  of  February,  Anno 
1699,  in  the year  of  her  age,  and  in  the  eleventh  year  of  her  mar- 
riage having  borne  to  her  husband  five  children  fou~  daughters  and  a 


122  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

son,  two  whereof,  Sarah  and  Judith  Carter,  died  before,  and  are  buried 
near  her.  Piously  she  lived,  and  comfortably  died,  in  the  joyful  assurance 
of  a  happy  eternitie,  leaving  to  her  friends  the  sweet  perfume  of  a  good 
reputation/' 

EAST   OP   THE   CHURCH,  AND  -MUTILATED. 
V. 

"To  the  memory  of  Betty  Carter,  second  wife  of  Eobert  Carter,  Esq., 
youngest  daughter  of  Thomas  Landon,  Esq.,  and  Mary  his  wife,  of  Grednal, 
in  the  county  of  Hereford,  the  ancient  seat  of  the  family  and  place  of  her 
nativity.  She  bore  to  her  husband  ten  children,  five  sons  and  five  daugh- 
ters, three  of  whom — Sarah,  Betty,  and  Ludlow — died  before  her  and  are 
buried  near  her.  She  was  a  person  of  great  and  exemplary  piety  and 
chanty  in  every  relation  wherein  she  stood :  whether  considered  as  a 
Christian,  a  wife,  a  mother,  a  mistress,  a  neighbour,  or  a  friend,  her  con- 
duct was  equalled  by  few,  excelled  by  none.  She  changed  this  life  for  a 
better  on  the  3d  of  July,  1710,  in  the  36th  year  of  her  age  and  19th  of 
her  marriage.  May  her  descendants  make  their  mother's  virtues  and 
graces  the  pattern  of  their  lives  and  actions  !" 

EAST   OP  THE  CHURCH. 
VI. 

"  Under  this  stone  are  the  remains  of  Mary  Carter,  the  affectionate  wife 
of  Charles  Carter,  of  Corotoman,  who  died  on  the  30th  of  January,  1770, 
after  a  painful  illness  of  three  months,  during  which  time  she  discovered  a 
truly  Christian  fortitude,  aged  34  years/'7 

Mr.  Carter  moved  to  Shirly,  on  James  River,  in  1776,  and  mar- 
ried Ann  Butler  Moore, — his  second  wife. 

The  following  translation  of  Mr.  Robert  Carter's  epitaph  may  be 
a  help  to  some  of  our  readers  : — 

"  Here  lies  buried  Robert  Carter,  Esq.,  an  honourable  man,  who  by 
noble  endowments  and  pure  morals  gave  lustre  to  his  gentle  birth. 

"  Rector  of  William  and  Mary,  he  sustained  fchat  institution  in  its  most 
trying  times.  He  was  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  and  Treasurer 
under  the  most  serene  Princes  "William,  Anne,  George  I.  and  II. 

u  Elected  by  the  House  its  Speaker  six  years,  and  Governor  of  the  Colony 
for  more  than  a  year,  he  upheld  equally  the  regal  dignity  and  the  public 
freedom. 

"  Possessed  of  ample  wealth,  blamelessly  acquired,  he  built  and  endowed, 
at  his  own  expense,  this  sacred  edifice, — a  signal  monument  of  his  piety 
toward  God.  He  furnished  it  richly. 

"  Entertaining  his  friends  kindly,  he  was  neither  a  prodigal  nor  a  par- 
simonious host. 

"  His  first  wife  was  Judith,  daughter  of  John  Armistead,  Esq.;  his 
second  Betty,  a  descendant  of  the  noble  family  of  Landons.  By  these 
wives  he  had  many  children,  on  whose  education  he  expended  large  sumg 
of  money. 

"  At  length,  full  of  honours  and  of  years,  when  he  had  well  performed 
all  the  duties  of  an  exemplary  life,  he  departed  from  this  world  on  the 
4th  day  of  August,  in  the  69th  year  of  his  age. 


FAMILIES    3lp  VIRGINIA. 

"The  unhappy  lament  their  lost  comforter,  the  widows  their  lost  pro- 
cectoij  and  the  orphans  their  lost  father." 

tfT^TSTERS  OF  THE  PARISHES   OF  CHRIST   CHURCH   AND   ST.  MAKY'S. 

We  have  already  stated  that  the  same  ministers  served  both 
parishes.  Who  the  first  minister  or  ministers  were,  we  are  unable 
to  state ;  but  upon  the  vestry-book,  whose  loss  we  lament,  there 
was  one  whose  name  and  history  were  too  striking  to  be  forgotten. 
His  name  was  Andrew  Jackson,  and,  for  what  cause  we  know  not, 
*ome  one  ^rote  his  name,  and  he  made  his  mark,  beneath  the  name 
jf  one  of  the  John  Carters.  He  was  not  Episcopally  ordained,  and 
iiis  led  to  a  correspondence  between  the  vestry  and  one  of  the 
Sovernors  of  Virginia, — most  probably  Governor  Nicholson, — at  a 
time  when  an  order  came  from  England  that  the  law  requiring  all 
holding  livings  in  the  Church  to  be  Episcopally  ordained  should 
be  enforced  in  Virginia.  The  vestry  remonstrated  earnestly  with 
the  Governor  against  its  execution  in  the  case  of  their  minister, 
Mr.  Jackson.  They  plead  that  he  had  been  serving  the  parish 
faithfully  for  twenty-five  years,  that  he  was  much  esteemed  and 
beloved,  had  brought  up  a  large  family  of  children,  and  laid  up 
something  for  them  from  his  industrious  culture  of  the  glebe,  (then 
and  now  a  good  farm  near  the  church,)  and  the  people  were  very 
unwilling  to  part  with  him.  They  urged  one  argument  very  em- 
phatically,— viz. :  that,  by  reason  of  the  inferiority  of  the  quality 
of  tobacco  raised  in  the  Northern  Neck  of  Virginia,  by  comparison 
with  that  in  many  other  parts,  it  being  worth  less  by  twopence  per 
pound,  the  parish  was  not  on  an  equal  footing  with  a  large  number 
elsewhere  in  procuring  suitable  ministers,  and  that,  therefore,  they 
ought  to  be  allowed  tQ  retain  the  one  whom  they  had.  What  was 
the  issue  of  the  controversy  either  did  not  appear  or  is  not  recol- 
lected. My  impression  is  that  it  took  place  early  in  the  last  century, 
and  that  he  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  John  Bell,  who  was  cer- 
tainly the  minister  in  1713,  and  continued  so  until  the  year  1743, 
when,  at  his  death,  the  Rev.  David  Currie  succeeded,  and  continued 
until  his  death  in  1792, — nearly  fifty  years.  If  such  be  the  case, 
then  were  the  people  of  Lancaster  served  for  more  than  one  hundred 
years  by  three  ministers,  who  were  esteemed  and  loved  by  them. 
In  my  previous  account  of  the  Carter  family  I  have  spoken  more 
particularly  of  Mr.  Currie,  whose  descendants  are  numerous  and 
respectable  and  have  adhered  to  the  Chiirch  of  their  worthy  an- 
cestor. At  the  death  of  Mr.  Carrie,  in  1791,  the  Rev.  David  Ball 
appears  for  one  year  on  the  list  of  our  clerical  delegates  to  the 


124  OLD   CHUKCHES,   MIFISTEBS,   AND 

Convention,  and  for  one  only.  Whether  he  was  of  the  large  family 
of  Balls  belonging  to  Lancaster,  or  whence  he  came,  or  whither  he 
went,  I  know  not.  He  was  followed  by  a  Rev.  Mr.  Leland  and  a 
Rev.  Mr.  Page,  each  for  a  short  time.  Of  each  of  these  I  shall 
speak  in  another  place.  In  1794,  no  clerical  delegate  appears ; 
but  there  were  two  laymen,— Mr.  Raleigh  Downman  and  Mr. 
William  Eustace.  From  the  year  1796  to  the  year  1805,  the  Rev. 
Daniel  McNaughton  is  on  our  list  as  minister  of  this  parish. 
James  Ball,  Martin  Shearman,  and  William  Montague  appear  as 
lay  delegates.  In  1812,  Raleigh  Downman  and  J.  M.  Smith  are 
lay  delegates.  In  1813,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Low  is  minister.  Be- 
tween him  and  his  friends,  and  Mr.  McNaughton,  there  was  for 
some  time  a  contest  for  the  parish  and  the  use  of  the  churches. 
On  one  occasion  Mr.  Low  had  all  the  congregation  in  the  church- 
yard, and  preached  from  the  seat  behind  a  carriage,  while  Mr 
McNaughton  had  the  pulpit  and  the  empty  pews  within.  They 
were  both  of  them  such  unworthy  characters,  though  in  different 
ways,  that  we  shall  not  waste  time  and  words  upon  them.  In  the 
year  1824,  the  Rev.  Ira  Parker,  an  ignorant  and  incompetent 
minister,  took  charge  of  the  parish,  but  soon  left  it  for  some  other. 
After  floating  about  for  a  few  years,  he  adopted  the  system  of 
Swedenborg,  and  was  dismissed  from  the  ministry.  In  the  year 
1832,  the  Rev*  Ephraim  Adams  took  charge  of  the  parish  and 
Continued  its  minister  for  four  years.  He  was  a  worthy  man,  but, 
oy  reason  of  some  peculiarities,  unfitted  for  much  usefulness.  In 
1888,  the  Rev.  Francis  McGuire  was  its  minister;  and,  in  1839, 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Bryant,  of  whom  we  have  spoken  elsewhere,  succeeded. 
In  1844  and  1845,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Richmond  was  its  minister.  IP 
1850  and  1851,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Nash.  In  1853,  its  present  minister, 
the  Rev.  Edmund  Withers,  took  charge  of  it.  Within  the  last  few 
years  a  small  church  has  been  built  at  Kilmarnock,  about  four 
miles  from  Old  Christ  Church.  It  being  more  convenient  to  the 
majority  of  the  people  in  that  region  than  the  old  one,  services  are 
held  there  alternately.  Although  but  few  attend  generally  at  the 
old  and  venerable  one,  by  reason  of  its  inconvenient  location,  yet 
at  my  recent  visit  to  it,  although  there  were  other  services  near  at 
hand,  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  persons  might  be  counted  there 
on  a  Sabbath  morning.  It  is  somewhat  remarkable  that  Kilmar- 
nock is  the  very  spot  on  which  the  vestry  determined  to  build  a 
new  church  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  deeming  it 
the  most  central  and  convenient  place,  when  Mr.  Carter  offered  to 
build  one  at  his  own  expense,  if  allowed  to  locate  it  nearer  to  his 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  125 

residence  at  Corotoman.  Tradition  says  that  the  bricks  of  which 
the  church  is  built  were  brought  from  England.  It  is  far  more 
probable  that  it  is  true  in  this  case  than  in  most  of  the  other 
houses,  public  or  private,  of  which  the  same  report  has  come  down 
to  us ;  for  Mr.  Carter,  having  so  many  vessels  from  England  as- 
signed to  him,  may,  at  little  cost,  have  had  English  bricks  put  in 
as  ballast,  and  then  conveyed  in  flatboats  up  the  creek,  within  a 
short  distance  of  the  place  where  the  church  stands.  Piles  of 
stones  thus  coming  from  England  may  yet  be  seen  near  the  river 
bank  at  Corotoman,  there  cast  to  prevent  the  waves  from  depre- 
dating on  the  bank  near  his  house. 

List  of  Vestrymen  in  St.  Mary's  Parish,  before  the  union  of  the  parishes, 

from  1739  to  1756,  and  of  both  parishes  after  the  union, 
William  Bertrand,  William  Ball,  Jr.,  Joseph  Ball,  Joseph  Heale,  Jos. 
Chinn,  Martin  Shearman,  Ealeigh  Chinn,  Eichard  Chichester,  Jesse  Ball, 
Robert  Mitchell,  Colonel  Ball,  Major  Ball,  (making  five  Balls  in  ono 
vestry,)  Joseph  Carter,  Thomas  Chinn.  In  the  year  1743,  the  following 
vestrymen  from  Christ  Church  met  with  the  vestry  of  St.  Mary's  White 
Chapel, — -viz.:  Henry  Carter,  Henry  Lawson,  Mr.  Edwards,  Mr.  Steptoe, 
Mr.  Martin,  Captain  Tayloe,  Colonel  Conway,  Thomas  Lawson,  John 
Steptoe,  Mr.  Pinkard.  At  this  time  six  of  each  vestry  are  appointed  tc 
form  a  general  vestry,  and  it  is  sometimes  difficult  to  determine  to  which 
parish  each  one  belongs.  Hugh  Bent,  from  Christ  Church,  James  Ball, 
Jr.,  Dale  Carter,  Stephen  Towles,  George  Payne,  Merryman  Payne,  Bich- 
ard  Selden,  Thomas  Chinn,  Solomon  Swell,  John  Fleet,  William  Dynter, 
Charles  Carter,  John  Chinn,  James  Kiok,  Thaddeus  McCarty,  Thomas 
Griffin,  Thomas  Lawson,  Edwin  Conway,  William  Montague,  in  place  of 
Charles  Carter,  in  1776,  Henry  Towles,  James  Newby,  William  Sydnor, 
John  Berryman,  Colonel  John  Tayloe,  James  Brent,  William  Chewning, 
James  Ball,  Jr. 

In  1786,  Cyrus  Griffin  is  appointed  to  attend  the  Episcopal 
Convention  in  Eichmond,  and  James  Ball  to  attend  the  examination 
of  the  Rev.  Edward  Jones  at  the  court-house.  For  what  purpose 
and  of  what  character  that  examination  was,  is  not  certainly  known, 
but  it  is  believed  to  have  been  a  kind  of  trial  under  a  canon  of 
Virginia.  Thus  ends  the  vestry-book. 

WHITE  CHAPEL  CHURCH. 

The  first  church  was  torn  down.  From  the  vestry-book  it  appears 
that  the  present  was  built  in  1740.  It  was  contracted  for  with  Mr. 
James  Jones.  In  that  year  Major  James  Ball  and  Mr.  Joseph 
Ball  are  allowed  to  build  a  gallery  in  the  church  for  their  families, 
provided  it  be  completed  at  the  same  time  with  the  church,  and  finished 
in  the  same  style  with  the  west  gallery.  Leave  is  also  granted  to  two 


126  OL1>    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

of  the  Balls  and  two  Mr.  Burgesses  to  build  an  end-gallery  on  the 
same  terms.  The  house  was  originally  in  the  form  of  a  cross.  The 
two  wings  have  been  taken  down,  and  it  is  now  an  oblong  square. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  last  century  the  parishes  must  have  been 
in  a  flourishing  condition,  so  far  as  numbers  and  attendants  go. 
In  the  year  1724,  Mr.  Bell,  who  had  then  been  their  minister  for 
twelve  years,  informs  the  Bishop  of  London  that  there  were  three 
hundred  families  in  it ;  that  the  churches  were  thronged ;  that  almost 
all  the  white  persons  in  the  parish  attended;  that  there  were  a  great 
many  negroes  who  neither  understood  his  language,  nor  he  theirs ;  that 
the  old  church  was  opened  to  them,  and  the  word  preached,  and  the 
sacraments  administered  with  circumspection.  He  says  at  that  time 
the  two  parishes  were  united  in  one,  and  called  Trinity :  but  of  this 
we  read  nothing,  either  in  the  Acts  of  Assembly  or  in  the  vestry-book. 

Around  Old  White  Chapel  Church,  under  the  venerable  pines 
which  enclose  it  on  two  sides,  and  near  an  old  county  road,  lie  a 
number  of  those  strong,  heavy  tombstones  which  betoken  a  deep 
regard  of  the  living  for  the  dead.  Almost  all  of  them  are  inscribed 
with  the  name  of  Ball, — a  name  which  so  abounds  in  the  vestry- 
book,  the  county,  and  the  State.  Through  the  attention  of  a  friend 
I  have  a  document  of  more  ancient  date  than  any  tombstone  in- 
scription there.  It  is  a  description  of  the  coat  of  arms  of  the  family 
of  Ball,  brought  to  this  country  about  the  year  1650,  by  the  first 
of  the  name  who  came  to  Virginia.  The  coat  of  arms  has  much 
that  is  bold  about  it,  as  a  lion  rampant,  with  a  globe  in  his  paw, 
and  there  is  helmet  and  shield  and  vizor,  and  coat  of  mail,  and 
other  things  betokening  strength  and  courage ;  but  none  of  these 
suit  my  work.  There  is,  however,  one  thing  which  does.  On  the 
scroll  which  belongs  to  it  are  these  words: — "  Qoalumque  tueri." 
They  were  taken,  of  course,  from  these  lines  of  Ovid: — 

"Pronaque  cum  spectant  animalia  csetera  terram 
Os  homini  sublime  dedit,  ccelumque  tueri." 

May  it  be  a  memento  to  all  his  posterity  to  look  upward,  and 
"seek  the  things  which  are  above."  On  the  back  of  the  original 
copy  of  this  armorial  document  are  the  following  words,  in  a  bold 
hand,  such  as  was  common  in  those  days: — "  The  coat  of  arms 
of  Colonel  William  Ball,  who  came  from  England  with  his  family 
about  the  year  1650,  and  settled  at  the  mouth  of  Corotoman  River, 
in  Lancaster  county,  Virginia,  and  died  in  1669,  leaving  two  sons, 
William  and  Joseph,  and  one  daughter,  Hannah,  who  married 
Daniel  Fox.  William  left  eight  sons,  (and  one  daughter,)  five  of 


FAMILIES   OP  VIRGINIA.  127 

whom  have  now  (Anno  Domini  1779)  male  issue.  Joseph's  male 
issue  is  extinct.  General  George  "Washington  is  his  grandson,  by 
his  youngest  daughter,  Mary.  Colonel  Burgess  Ball  is  the  only 
child  of  Jeduthun,  who  was  the  third  and  youngest  son  of  James, 
the  third  son  of  said  William/'  On  the  tombstones  around  the 
church  there  is  no  inscription  of  the  first  William  Ball  or  any  of 
his  children,  but  only  of  his  grandchildren  and  other  descendants. 
The  first  is  over  the  grave  of  David  Ball,  seventh  son  of  Captain 
William-  Ball,  who  was  born  in  1686.  The  others  are  the  tomb- 
stones of  Mildred  Ball,  Jeduthun  Ball,  Mary  Ann  Ball,  daughter 
of  the  Rev,  John  Bertrand,  of  Jesse  Ball,  of  Mary  Ball,  daughter 
of  Edwin  Conway,  of  James  Ball,  her  husband,  of  William  Ball, 
"who  died  in  a  steadfast  faith  in  Christ  and  full  hope  of  a  joyful 
resurrection,"  of  James  Ball  and  Fanny,  his  wife,  daughter  of  Ra- 
leigh, and  Frances  Downman,  of  Lettuce,  third  wife  of  James  Ball, 
and  daughter  of  Richard  Lee,  of  Ditchley,  of  Colonel  James  Ball, 
of  James  Ball,  second  son  of  James  and  Mary. 

p.g. — Since  the  above  was  written  I  have  received  a  communi- 
cation from  a  friend  who  has  looked  into  the  earliest  records  of 
Lancaster  county,  when  Middlesex  and  Lancaster  were  one.  They 
go  back  to  1650.  A  few  years  after  this,  in  the  absence  of  a  vestry, 
the  court  appointed  the  Rev.  Samuel  Cole  the  minister  of  the  whole 
county  on  both  sides  of  the  river.  This  is  the  same  minister  who 
appears  on  the  vestry-book  of  Middlesex  in  the  year  1664,  The 
court  also  appointed  churchwardens  and  sidesmen,  as  in  the  Eng- 
lish Church,  on  both  sides  of  the  river.  They  were  John  Taylor, 
William  Clapham,  John  Merryman,  Edmund  Lurin,  George  Kibble, 
and  William  Leech.  Other  names  also  appear  on  the  records,  as 
Thomas  Powell,  Cuthbert  Powell,  Edward  Digges,  W.  Berkeley, 
Robert  Chewning,  Henry  Corbyn,  David  Fox,  John  Washington, 
of  Westmoreland.  In  the  year  1661,  a  general  vestry  is  formed, 
and  Mr.  John  Carter,  Henry  Corbyn,  David  Fox,  and  William 
Leech,  are  appointed  to  take  up  subscriptions  for  the  support  of 
the  minister.  They  were  chosen  from  each  side  of  the  river.  An 
instance  is  recorded  at  this  early  period  of  a  man  being  fined  five 
thousand  pounds  of  tobacco  by  the  court  for  profane  swearing, 

In  the  year  1685,  we  find  John  Chilton  fined,  and  required  to 
appear  four  times  on  his  bended  knees,  and  ask  pardon  each  time, 
for  a  misdemeanour  committed  in  their  presence. 

In  the  year  1699,  we  find  that  none  are  allowed  to  be  teachers 
of  youth  except  such  as  are  commissioned  by  the  Bishop  of  London, 
and,  in  the  same  year,  that  inquiries  were  ordered  as  to  any  reli- 


128  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

gious  meetings  except  those  of  the  Established  Church.  These 
things  were  under  the  mild  reign  of  the  amiable  Governor  Nicholson. 
In  the  year  1727,  we  find  presentments  for  being  absent  from 
church  one  month  and  two  months,  for  swearing,  for  selling  craw- 
fish and  posting  accounts  on  Sunday. 

In  addition  to  the  above,  it  may  be  stated  that  the  county  records, 
as  well  as  vestry-books,  show  that  the  family  of  Balls  was  very 
active  in  promoting  good  things.  At  an  early  period  of  our  history, 
it  is  stated  that  a  measure  was  set  on  foot  for  educating  a  number  of 
Virginia  youths  for  the  ministry,  in  order  to  a  larger  and  better 
supply.  It  would  appear  from  the  county  records  that  this  mea- 
sure originated,  in  1729,  with  Mr.  Joseph  Ball,  of  Lancaster.  The 
following  is  the  entry : — 

"  A  proposition  of  Joseph  Ball,  gentleman,  in  behalf  of  himself  and 
the  rest  of  the  inhabitants  of  Virginia,  directed  to  the  Honourable  the 
General  Assembly,  concerning  the  instructing  a  certain  number  of  young 
gentlemen,  Virginians  born,  in  the  study  of  divinity,  at  the  county's 
charge,  was  this  day  presented  in  court  by  the  said  Joseph  Ball,  and  on 
his  prayer  ordered  to  be  certified  to  the  G-eneral  Assembly." 

This  Joseph  Ball  married  a  Miss  Ravenscroft,  of  England,  and 
settled  in  London  as  practitioner  of  law.  He  had  only  one 
daughter,  Fanny,  who  married  Raleigh  Downman  in  1750.  Her 
children  were  Joseph  Ball  Downman,  of  Moratico,  Fanny,  who 
married  Colonel  James  Ball,  of  Bewdley,  and  Mr,  Raleigh  W. 
Downman,  of  Belle-Isle.  This  Joseph  Ball  was  the  uncle  of 
General  Washington.  I  have  before  me  two  letters  from  him,  the 
one  addressed  to  his  sister  Mary,  and  the  other  to  his  nephew 
George  Washington,  from  which  I  take  the  following  passages. 
The  first  is  to  his  sister,  when  her  son  was  thinking  of  going  to 
sea.  It  is  dated  Stratford-by-Bow,  19th  of  May,  1747  :— 

a  I  understand  that  you  are  advised  and  have  some  thoughts  of  putting 
your  son  George  to  sea.  I  think  he  had  better  be  put  apprentice  to  a 
tinker,  for  a  common  sailor  before  the  mast  has  by  no  means  the  common 
liberty  of  the  subject ;  for  they  will  press  him  from  a  ship  where  he  has 
fifty  shillings  a  month  and  make  him  take  twenty-three,  and  cut  and 
slash  and  use  him  like  a  negro,  or  rather  like  a  dog.  And,  as  to  any 
considerable  preferment  in  the  navy,  it  is  not  to  be  expected,  as  there 
are  always  so  many  gaping  for  it  here  who  have  interest,  and  he  has  none. 
And  if  he  should  get  to  be  master  of  a  Virginia  ship,  (which  it  is  very 
difficult  to  do,)  a  planter  that  has  three  or  four  hundred  acres  of  land  and 
three  or  four  slaves,  if  he  be  industrious,  may  live  more  comfortably,  and 
leave  his  family  in  better  bread,  than  such  a  master  of  a  ship^can.  .  .  . 
Ee  must  not  be  too  hasty  to  be  rich,  but  go  on  gently  and  with  patience. 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  129 

as  things  will  naturally  go.  This  method,  without  aiming  at  being  a  finfc 
gentleman  before  his  time,  will  carry  a  man  more  comfortably  and  surely 
through  the  world  than  going  to  sea,  unless  it  be  a  great  chance  indeed. 
I  pray  God  keep  you  and  yours. 

"  Your  loving  brother,  JOSEPH  BALL." 

To  his  nephew  he  writes  thus  after  Braddock's  defeat : — 

"  STEATFOED,  5th.  of  September,  1755. 

"  GOOD  COUSIN  : — It  is  a  sensible  pleasure  to  me  to  hear  that  you  hare 
behaved  yourself  with  such  a  martial  spirit,  in  all  your  engagements 
with  the  French,  nigh  Ohio.  Go  on  as  you  have  begun,  and  God  prosper 
you.  We  have  heard  of  General  Braddock's  defeat.  Everybody  blames 
his  rash  conduct.  Everybody  commends  the  courage  of  the  Virginians 
and  Carolina  men,  which  is  very  agreeable  to  me.  I  desire  you,  as  you 
may  have  opportunity,  to  give  me  a  short  account  how  you  proceed.  I 
am  your  mother's  brother.  I  hope  you  will  not  deny  my  request.  [ 
heartily  wish  you  good  success,  and  am 

"  Your  loving  uncle, 

"JOSEPH  BALL" 
"  To  MAJOR  GEORGE  WASHINGTON, 

"  At  the  Falls  of  Rappahannock,  or  elsewhere,  in  Virginia. 

"  Please  direct  for  me  at  Stratford-by-Bow,  nigh  London. " 

A  few  words  concerning  a  minister  and  church  of  another  de 
nomination  will  close  my  notices  of  Lancaster. 

The  county  of  Lancaster  was  the  scene  of  the  early  labours  of 
the  Eev.  Mr.  Waddell,  the  blind  Presbyterian  preacher  who  is  so 
feelingly  described  by  Mr.  Wirt,  in  the  British  Spy.  At  a  time 
when  disaffection  toward  the  Established  Church  was  spreading 
through  Virginia,  and  great  numbers  were  leaving  it,  Mr.  Waddell, 
by  his  talents,  zeal,  and  piety,  gathered  two  congregations  in  this 
county.  One  of  the  churches  was  near  the  court-house.  The 
graveyard,  in  its  ruins,  is  the  only  relic  of  the  establishment  of 
that  denomination  in  Lancaster  county.  About  fifty  years  since, 
the  church  shared  the  same  fate  with  those  of  the  Establishment 
which  have  now  passed  away.  The  two  acres  of  land  on  which  it 
stood,  and  beneath  which  are  the  remains  of  numerous  adherents 
to  that  denomination,  has  ever  been  regarded  as  sacred.  A  grove 
of  oaks,  sycamores,  pines,  and  other  trees  shaded  the  hillocks  and 
some  tombstones  which  were  spread  over  the  surface  of  the  earth, 
which  was  carpeted  with  a  covering  of  green  grass.  It  was,  I  am 
told,  a  favourite  resort  to  the  people  of  the  village  and  country 
around, — to  the  young  as  a  play-ground,  to  the  old  as  a  scene  of 
contemplation.  I  recently  visited  the  spot,  but  found  it  no  longer 
a  scene  for  the  young  or  old,  the  gay  or  the  grave.  Nearly  every 
VOL.  II.— 9 


ISO  0££»   UHUECEES,   MINISTERS, 

tree  was  gone,  having  been,  within  a  year  or  two,  cut  down  and 
converted  into  cord-wood  and  sold  to  the  steamboats.  Nothing  is 
now  to  be  seen  but  stumps  and  piles  of  dead  branches,  which  hide 
not  only  the  hillock-graves,  but  the  few  tombstones  which  were 
once  to  be  seen.  Young  cedars  are  everywhere  putting  forth  their 
shoots,  and  in  a  few  years  it  will  be  with  this  spot  as  with  many 
like  it  in  Virginia, — it  must  be  so  hidden  from  the  view  that  it  will 
be  difficult  for  any  ecclesiastical  antiquary  to  discover  the  spot 
where  Mr.  Waddell  once  proclaimed  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  Rumour 
says  that,  in  the  absence  of  any  member  of  the  Church  near  at 
hand,  application  was  made  to  some  Presbyterian  ministers  at  a  dis- 
tance, and  leave  granted  to  do  something  to  this  interesting  spot 
which  has  resulted  in  such  utter  desolation. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  131 


ARTICLE  LIX. 

Parishes  in  Northumberland  County. —  Wyeomico  and  St. 

Stephen's. 

NORTHUMBERLAND  county,  lying  on  the  bay  and  the  Great  Po- 
tomac, was  partially  settled  at  an  early  period.  In  the  year  1646, 
during  the  government  of  Sir  William  Berkeley,  we  find  the  follow- 
ing Act  of  Assembly: — u Whereas,  the  inhabitants  of  Chicawane, 
alias  Northumberland,  being  members  of  this  Colony,  have  not 
hitherto  contributed  toward  the  charges  of  the  war,  [with  the  Indians,] 
it  is  now  thought  fit  that  the  said  inhabitants  do  make  payment  of 
the  levy  according  to  such  rates  as  are  by  this  present  Assembly 
assessed.  .  .  .  And  in  case  the  said  inhabitants  shall  refuse  or  deny 
payment  of  the  said  levy,  as  above  expressed,  that,  upon  report 
thereof  to  the  next  Assembly,  speedy  course  shall  then  be  adopted 
to  call  them  off  from  the  said  Plantation.'1  It  had  in  the  previous 
year  been  allowed  a  Burgess,  in  Mr.  John  Matram,  In  the  fol- 
lowing year  Mr.  William  Presley  was  the  delegate.  In  the  year 
1648,  we  find  the  following  Act : — "  That  the  ninth  Act  of  Assembly 
of  1647,  for  the  reducing  of  the  inhabitants  of  Chickcoun  and 
other  parts  of  the  neck  of  land  between  Rappahannock  and  Poto- 
macke  Rivers  be  repealed,  and  that  the  said  tract  of  land  be  here- 
after called  and  known  by  the  name  of  the  county  of  Northumber- 
land/7 In  the  year  1649,  it  is  declared  "that  the  inhabitants  on 
the  south  side  of  the  Potomacke  [Potomac]  shall  be  included,  and 
are  hereafter  to  be  accounted  within  the  county  of  Northumber- 
land." In  the  year  1653,  the  bounds  of  Northumberland  are 
reduced  by  the  establishment  of  Westmoreland  county,  which  was 
made  to  extend  "  from  Match oactoke  River,  where  Mr.  Cole  lives, 
and  so  upward  to  the  falls  of  the  great  river  Potomacke  above 
the  Necostins  town;"  that  is,  above  what  is  now  Georgetown,  in  the 
District  of  Columbia.  In  the  year  1673,  the  boundary-line  between 
Lancaster  and  Northumberland  is  settled,  according  to  an  order  of 
the  Assembly,  by  Colonel  John  Washington,  (the  first  settler,  and 
great-grandfather  of  General  Washington,)  Captain  John  Lee, 
William  Traveson,  William  Moseley,  and  R.  Beverley.  While  we 


132  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 


have  the  above  Acts  of  Assembly  in  relation  to  its  civil  divisions, 
we  find  nothing  as  to  its  religious  concerns.  The  establishment  of 
a  parish  or  parishes  within  its  bounds  is  nowhere  given  us,  excep 
in  two  lists  of  the  counties  in  the  year  1754,  when  it  is  called  St 
Stephen's  parish,  with  Mr.  Thomas  Smith  for  its  minister,  and  in 
1758,  when  it  is  called  Wycomico,  and  has  the  Rev.  John  Leland 
as  its  minister.  In  the  year  1776,  it  is  said  to  have  two  parishes. — 
Wycomico  and  St.  Stephen's, — Mr.  John  Leland  the  minister  of  the 
former,  and  the  Rev.  Benjamin  Sebastion  of  the  other.  Mr.  Leland 
was  ordained  by  the  Bishop  of  London  in  1775,  and  Mr.  Sebastion 
in  1766.  It  is,  however,  confidently  affirmed  to  this  day  that  there 
were  two  parishes,  called  Upper  and  Lower  St.  Stephen's,  besides 
Wycomico,  and  that  the  glebes  can  be  pointed  out. 

In  the  year  1785,  we  find  the  two  parishes  represented  in  the 
Convention, — Wycomico  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Leland,  and  as  lay  delegate 
T.  Gaskins,  St.  Stephen's  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Davis,  with  Mr. 
Hudson  Meuse  as  lay  delegate.  In  the  year  1786,  Wycomico 
alone  is  represented  by  Mr.  Leland  and  Mr.  Gaskins.  In  1787, 
Mr.  Leland  appears  for  the  last  time,  with  Mr.  David  Ball  as  lay 
delegate.  In  1789,  Mr.  Oneriphorus  Harvey  is  lay  delegate  from 
Wycomico,  and  in  1790,  Mr.  Isaac  Besye.  In  that  year  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Davis  represents  St.  Stephen's  parish,  and  also  in  1792. 
In  1795,  the  Rev.  John  Sererd,  with  Abraham  Beacham  as  lay 
delegate,  represents  St.  Stephen's,  while  three  lay  delegates,  Messrs. 
Hopkins,  Hardy,  and  Hurst,  represent  Wycomico.  In  the  year 
1797,  Thomas  Gaskins  and  Thomas  Hurst  are  lay  delegates  from 
Wycomico,  a,nd  Mr.  William  Olaughton  from  St.  Stephen's.  In 
1799,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Seward  still  represents  St.  Stephen's,  while 
William  Davenport  and  Thomas  Harvey  are  lay  delegates  for 
Wycomico.  There  being  no  Convention,  or,  if  one,  no  records  of 
it,  until  1805,  we  are  unable  to  say  who  ministered  in  Northumber- 
land in  the  interim.  In  that  year  the  Rev.  Duncan  McNaughton 
represented  St.  Stephen's,  with  John  Hull  as  lay  delegate.  In  the 
year  1812,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Low,  with  Thomas  Gaskins  as  lay 
delegate,  was  in  the  Convention.  Mr.  Low  was  also  there  in  1813, 
accompanied  by  Mr.  Joseph  Ball.  Erom  that  to  the  present  time 
there  has,  I  believe,  been  no  regular  minister  belonging  to  either 
of  the  parishes  of  this  county,  though  services  have  been  rendered 
to  them  both  by  the  ministers  of  Lancaster  county. 

Concerning  the  church  in  Wycomico  parish,  and  which  was  called 
Wycomico  Church,  we  have  something  to  say  from  personal  know- 
ledge. Bishop  Moore  and  myself  both  performed  services  in  it, 


FAMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA.  133 

though  to  a  small  number  of  persons.  The  last  time  that  Bishop 
Moore  ivas  in  the  desk,  a  piece  of  plastering  from  its  high  arched 
ceiling  fell  upon  his  head,  which  was  protected  by  only  a  few  gray 
hairs.  Judging  from  the  size  of  the  house,  there  must,  at  the  time 
of  its  erection,  have  been  many  attendants,  for  it  was  the  largest 
of  the  old  churches  in  Virginia  of  which  I  have  any  knowledge. 
It  was  built  about  the  beginning  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  when 
faithful  architecture  had  already  waned.  After  my  last  visit  to  it 
in  1837,  I  made  the  following  communication  to  the  ensuing  Con- 
vention of  1838  :— 

<kOn  Thursday,  the  22d  instant,  1  visited  Northumberland  Court-House 
in  company  with  the  Rev.  Washington  Nelson,  and  preached  to  a  respect- 
able congregation  in  the  Reformed  Methodist  Church.  But  few  Episcopal 
families  are  now  to  be  found  in  this  county,  There  were  formerly  three 
large  brick  churches  in  it,  two  of  which  are  entirely  gone,  and  the  third 
will  soon  share  their  fate  unless  speedy  means  of  prevention  be  adopted. 
The  one  yet  remaining,  called  Wycoiuico  Church,  was  built  in  the  year 
1771,  not  long  before  the  Revolution,  and  the  walls  are  still  firm.  The 
other  part  of  the  workmanship  was  so  inferior  to  that  of  former  times, 
that  the  vestry  refused  to  receive  it  at  the  hands  of  the  contractor.  The 
roof  is  now  falling  in,  and  the  ceiling  has  given  way  some  years  since. 
Each  of  the  Bishops  of  Virginia  have  preached  in  this  decaying  house, 
though  not  without  some  apprehension.  Its  present  condition  is  truly 
distressing.  The  doors  and  windows  are  gone.  The  fine  bricks  which 
case  the  windows  and  doors  are  gradually  disappearing.  Along  the  deserted 
aisles,  and  in  the  pews  of  this  large  cruciform  church,  measuring  seventy- 
five  feet  in  every  direction,  may  now  be  seen  the  carriage,  the  wagon,  the 
plow,  the  fishing-seine,  barrels  of  tar  and  lime,  lumber,  and  various  im- 
plements of  husbandry.  The  cattle  have  free  admission  to  it,  and  the 
pavement  of  the  aisles,  and  even  the  marble  slab  which  covers  the  remains 
of  one  of  the  latest  of  its  ministers,  is  covered  with  dirt  and  rubbish.  The 
old  bell  which  once  summoned  the  neighbours  to  the  house  of  God  is  lying 
in  one  of  the  pews  near  the  falling  pulpit.  In  the  deserted  chancel  you 
look  in  vain  for  the  Communion-table  and  the  baptismal  font,  and  there  is 
too  much  reason  to  fear  that  these  also  are  used  for  purposes  far  other  than 
those  to  which  they  were  originally  consecrated  and  applied.  Some  steps 
have  recently  been  taken  toward  the  repair  of  this  large  and  venerable 
building,  but  whether  they  will  be  continued  and  the  work  consummated 
is  still  doubtful/7 

At  the  end  of  twenty  years  it  pains  me  to  say  that  my  faintest 
hopes  have  been  more  than  disappointed,  and  my  worst  fears  more 
than  realized,  since  not  only  every  vestige  of  the  house  is  removed 
and  its  site  enclosed  and  cultivated  with  an  adjoining  field,  but  I 
cannot  learn  that  there  is  a  single  family  or  even  individual  in  the 
parish  still  connected  with  or  attached  to  the  Church.  The  whole 
population  is  incorporated  with  other  denominations.  That  worthy 
friend  and  member  of  our  Church,  Mr.  Joseph  Ball,  of  the  old  seat 


134  OLD    CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,   AND 

of  Ditehley,  was  near  enough  to  attend  Wycomico,  and  in  Romish 
days  would  have  been  regarded  and  called  its  patron  saint.  Some 
years  after  my  last  visit  to  this  falling  church,  he  placed  in  my 
hands  a  rich  service  of  Comraunion-plate  -which  belonged  to  it, 
saying,  that  as  he  was  the  only  surviving  friend  of  the  old  church, 
and  utterly  despaired  of  its  revival,  he  wished  me  to  take  charge 
of  it  and  let  it  be  used  in  some  other  parish.  This  I  did,  on  the 
condition  that  if  the  parish  ever  revived  it  should  receive  back 
again  the  property  of  its  ancestry.  The  vessels  are  now  used  in 
the  congregation  and  church  at  Millwood,  in  Clarke  county,  and 
the  condition  of  their  loan  is  recorded  in  the  vestry-book  of  the 
parish.  The  following  inscription  will  also  show  that  its  date  and 
use  were  far  anterior  to  the  establishment  of  old  Frederick  parish, 
out  of  which  the  parish  about  Millwood  has  been  carved. 

They  are  as  follows :— on  the  tankard,  "The  gift  of  Bartholomew 
Shriver,  who  died  in  1720,  and  of  Bartholomew  his  son,  who  died 
in  1727,  for  the  use  of  the  parish  of  Great  Wycomico,  in  the  county 
of  Northumberland,  1728."  The  inscription  on  the  plate  is,  "  The 
gift  of  Reynard  Delafiae  to  Quantico  Church."  We  know  of  no 
Quantico  Church  but  that  which  stood  near  Dumfries,  in  Prince 
William  county,  and  suppose  that  this  plate  must  once  have  belonged 
to  it.  There  is  no  date  to  the  inscription.  The  cup,  as  will  be 
seen  hereafter,  was  the  gift  of  Hancock  Lee,  in  1711. 

I  sincerely  wish  that  it  were  in  my  power  to  give  as  good  an  ac- 
count of  the  remnant  of  the  old  church  itself.  The  following 
extract  from  my  report  to  the  Convention  of  1841  will  tell  the 
history  of  the  disposal  of  the  walls  of  Wycomico  Church  :— 

"  Having  thus  briefly  stated  my  Episcopal  duties  IEL  the  Northern  Neck, 
I  must  beg^  leave  to  advert  to  a  circumstance  which  was  particularly  pre- 
sented to  my  consideration  while  near  the  site  of  one  of  our  old  Churches 
in  the  county  of  Northumberland,  and  which  has  been  not  a  little  mis- 
understood and  even  misrepresented  in  the  public  prints  and  on  the  floor 
of  oar  Legislature.  In  the  spring  of  1840,  I  received  a  communication 
from  Mr.  Joseph  Ball,  an  old  and  valued  member  of  our  Church  in  North- 
umberland,  on  the  subject  of  the  sale  of  the  church  in  his  neighbourhood. 
It  was  then  just  in  that  condition  when,  spoliation  of  the  bricks  having 
be<mn,  it  would  become  an  object  of  plunder  to  all  around  and  soon  dis- 
appear. One  of  the  neighbours,  therefore,  proposed  to  purchase  it,  and  my 
consent  was  asked.  I  replied  that  I  had  no  right  whatever  to  dispose  of 
it,  "Visiting  that  part  of  the  State  soon  after,  Mr.  Ball  informed  me  that 
a  gentleman  living  near  the  church,  and  professing  an  attachment  to  it, 
declared  that  it  distressed  him  to  see  the  church  thus  treated ;  that  in  a 
short  time  not  a  brick  would  be  left;  that  they  would  be  used  for  hearths, 
ehimneyfe,  and  such  like  purposes,  all  the  country  around;  that,  if  Mr.  Ball 
consent  lie  would  give  five  hundred  dollars,  either  to  rebuild  it  or 


FAMILIES    OF  VIBGDTIA.  135 

fco  take  it  down, — the  materials  in  the  latter  case  being  his  own;  tliat  He 
had  consulted  a  lawyer,  who  told  him  that  the  head  of  the  Church  could 
dispose  of  it.  As  Mr.  Ball  was  an  old  warden  of  the  parish  and  the  only 
surviving  member,  the  gentleman  thought  he  might  be  regarded  as  the 
head;  but,  on  being  told  that  the  Bishop  was  so  regarded,  it  was  referred 
to  myself.  In  reply  to  the  renewed  proposal,  I  stated  again  that  I  had  no 
right  to  sell  it,  and  was  unwilling  to  have  any  thing  to  do  with  it,  as  it 
might  be  misunderstood  and  misrepresented.  On  its  being  urged  by  Mr. 
Ball  that  a  refusal  to  give  such  permission  would  only  encourage  great 
numbers  to  robbery,  I  at  length  said  that,  if  he  chose  to  sell  it,  I  would 
receive  the  proceeds,  and  place  them  in  the  hands  of  the  trustees  of  our 
Theological  Seminary,  to  be  returned  should  it  ever  be  called  for  to  build 
a  church  in  its  room.  I  was  induced  to  do  this  partly  by  the  consideration 
that  our  Convention  had  many  years  before  passed  a  resolution  calling 
upon  persons  having  church-plate  in  vacant  parishes  to  send  it  for  safe- 
keeping to  the  Bishop  of  the  Diocese,  liable  to  be  called  for  should  the 
parishes  ever  be  revived.  Such  property  has  been  given  into  the  hands 
of  Bishop  Moore  and  myself,  and  has  been  lent  to  other  parishes  on  that 
condition.  I  accordingly,  in  writing,  stated  my  assent  to  the  sale  of  the 
walls  of  the  church  (nothing  else  remaining)  for  five  hundred  dollars, 
giving  what  right  I  might  be  thought  to  have.  I  looked  upon  the  trans- 
action as  an  affair  between  the  person,  proposing  it,  Mr.  Ball,  and  myself, 
as  friends  to  religion  and  the  Church,  who  were  desirous  to  prevent  a 
dishonourable  use  of  the  remains  of  a  building  not  likely  to  be  wanted 
again,  and  as  an  act  which  would  be  approved  by  all  good  and  pious  per- 
sons. After  having  paid  one-half  of  the  money,  the  purchaser  refused  the 
remainder,  on  the  plea  of  its  having  been  an  improper  sale.  In  order  to 
prevent  all  future  misunderstanding  of  this  transaction^  I  have  thought  it 
best  thus  to  place  it  among  our  records.  The  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars 
which  were  paid  were  expended,  I  believe,  on  the  Chapel  attached  to  our 
Theological  Seminary,  and  I  hold  myself  personally  responsible  for  its 
return  whenever  any  competent  authority  shall  claim  it." 

I  am  sorry  to  add  that  to  this  day  the  remaining  two  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars  is  unpaid.     I  trust  that  the  descendants  of  the 
purchaser,  even  to  the  latest  generation,  will  feel  bound  to  Wyco 
mico,  even  as  the  trustees  of  the  Theological  Seminary,  for  the  part 
which  has  been  used. 

NOTICES   0*    THE   LEE  FAMILY  IK  VIBGHNIA. 

In  the  county  of  Northumberland  and  parish  of  Great  Wycomieo, 
and  within  sight  of  the  Chesapeake  Bay,  there  is  an  estate  and 
mansion  called  Ditchley, — an  English  name  of  note, — -which  has 
probably  from  its  first  settlement,  more  than  one  hundred  years 
ago,  been  the  favourite  resort  of  the  ministers  of  the  Episcopal 
Church.  Its  present  owner  is  Mr.  Flexmer  Ball.  His  father,  Mr, 
Joseph  Ball,  was  one  of  the  truest  members  of  our  Church.  Of  his 
ancestry  we  have  just  written  in  our  last  article.  Many  and  plea- 
sant have  been,  the  hours  which,  in  company  with  some  of  the 


13G  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

brethren,  I  have  spent  at  Ditchley  within  the  last  thirty  years 
Ditchley  is  one  of  the  old  residences  of  the  Lees.  The  mansion 
called  Cobbs,  where  Colonel  Richard  Lee,  the  first  of  the  family, 
lived  for  some  time,  was  near  to  Ditchley,  and  has  only  very  re- 
cently been  removed  to  make  place  for  another,  although  it  must 
have  been  built  two  hundred  years  ago  or  more.  The  first  settler, 
of  whom  more  will  hereafter  be  said,  had  many  sons,  of  whom  the 
seventh,  Hancock  Lee,  built  and  lived  at  Ditchley.  He  was  twice 
married, — first  to  a  Miss  Kendall,  then  to  a  Miss  Allerton,  by  each 
of  whom  he  had  children,  whose  descendants  are  among  us  to  this 
day.  He  died  in  1729,  as  his  tombstone  in  the  family  burying- 
ground  at  Ditchley  shows  to  this  day.  Both  of  his  wives  are  buried 
at  the  same  place.  That  he  was  a  patron  of  the  church  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  he  presented  a  Coinmunion-cup  to  the  parish  in 
1711.  In  honour  either  of  himself  or  father,  or  the  whole  family, 
the  parish  was  then  called  Lee  parish,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  in- 
scription on  the  cup.  It  was  afterward  called  Wycomico.  After 
the  downfall  of  the  parish,  Mr.  Joseph  Ball  placed  this  and  other 
pieces  into  iny  hands  for  preservation,  in  hope  that  the  day  might 
come  when  the  old  Lee  and  more  modern  Wycomico  parish  might 
call  for  it  again.  It  is  now  used  in  the  church  at  Millwood,  Clarke 
county,  and  the  source  whence  it  came  and  the  pledge  given  are 
recorded  in  the  vestry-book  of  the  same,  as  has  already  been  said. 
The  following  account  of  the  Lee  family  is  copied  from  a  manu- 
script in  the  handwriting  of  William  Lee,  dated  London,  .September, 
177-,  the  last  figure  not  known,  but  just  before  the  war,  as  is  evi- 
dent from  the  document  itself.  Its  author  was  one  of  the  six  sons 
of  Thomas  Lee,  so  many  of  whom  were  active  in  the  Revolution. 
It  is  somewhat  doubtful  whether  in  the  early  part  of  it  Mr.  Arthur 
Lee  and  William  Lee,  in  London,  were  not  as  effective  as  Richard 
Henry  Lee  and  Francis  Lightfoot  Lee  in  America.  Mr.  William 
Lee,  author  of  the  following  sketch,  was  sheriff  and  alderman  in  the 
city  of  London,  and  subsequently  commercial  agent  for  Congress 
in  Europe  and  their  Commissioner  at  the  Courts  of  Berlin  and 
Vienna.  He  married  a  Miss  Ludwell  and  left  three  children, — 
William  Ludwell,  of  Greenspring,  who  is  buried  in  the  old  church- 
yard at  Jamestown,  Portia,  who  married  Mr.  William  Hodgson, 
and  Cornelia,  who  married  Mr.  John  Hopkins.  The  high  character 
of  Mr.  Lee  stamps  a  value  on  the  following  statement  :— 

"  Richard  Lee,  of  good  family  in  Shropshire,  and  whose  picture,  I  am 
told,  is  now  at  Cotton,  near  Bridgenorth,  the  seat  of  Lancelot  Lee,  Esq., 
seme  time  in  the  reign  of  CHarles  I.  wont  over  to  the  Colony  of  Virginia 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  13? 

as  Secretary  and  one  of  the  King's  Privy  Council,  which  last  part  will  for 
shortness  be  called  'of  the  Council/  He  was  a  man  of  good  stature, 
comely  visage,  enterprising  genius,  a  sound  head,  vigorous  spirit,  and 
generous  nature.  When  he  got  to  Virginia,  which  at  that  time  was  not 
much  cultivated,  he  was  so  pleased  with  the  country  that  he  made  large 
settlements  there  with  the  servants  he  carried  over.  After  some  years  he 
returned  to  England,  and  gave  all  the  lands  he  had  taken  up  and  settled 
at  his  expense  to  those  servants  he  had  fixed  on  them,  some  of  whose  de- 
scendants are  now  possessed  of  very  considerable  estates  in  that  Colony. 
After  staying  some  time  in  England,  he  returned  to  Virginia  with  a  fresh 
band  of  adventurers. 

"  During  the  civil  war  here,  Sir  William  Berkeley  was  the  Governor  of 
Virginia :  he  and  Lee,  both  being  loyalists,  kept  the  Colony  to  its  allegiance, 
so  that  after  the  death  of  Charles  I.  Cromwell  was  obliged  to  send  some 
ships-of-war  and  soldiers  to  reduce  the  Colony,  which  not  being  able  to 
do,  a  treaty  was  made  with  the  Commonwealth  of  England,  wherein 
Virginia  was  styled  an  independent  dominion.  This  treaty  was  ratified 
here  as  made  with  a  foreign  power,  upon  which  Sir  William  Berkeley 
(who  was  of  the  same  family  as  the  present  Earl  of  Berkeley)  was  re- 
moved, and  another  Governor  appointed  in  his  room.  When  Charles  II. 
was  at  Breda,  Eichard  Lee  came  over  from  Virginia  and  went  there  to 
him  to  know  if  he  could  undertake  to  protect  the  Colony  if  they  returned 
to  their  allegiance  to  him ;  but,  finding  no  support  could  be  obtained,  he 
returned  to  Virginia  and  remained  quiet  until  the  death  of  Cromwell, 
when  he,  with  the  assistance  of  Sir  William  Berkeley,  contrived  to  get 
Charles  II.  proclaimed  there  King  of  England,  Scotland,  France,  Ireland, 
arid  Virginia  two  years  before  he  was  restored  here,  and  Sir  William 
Berkeley  was  reinstated  as  his  Governor,  in  which  station  he  continued 
until  some  time  after  the  Eestoration,  when  he  cauie  over,  and  died  pre- 
sently. It  was  in  consequence  of  this  step  that  the  motto  of  the  Virginia 
arms  always  till  after  the  union  was  'En  dat  Virginia  quintain  ;'  but 
since  the  union  it  was  changed  to  lEn  dat  Virginia  quartam;'  that  is, 
King  of  Great  Britain,  France,  Ireland,  and  Virginia.  Here,  by-the- 
way,  I  cannot  help  remarking  the  extreme  ingratitude  of  this  Prince 
Charles  II.  Oliver  Cromwell,  to  punish  Virginia  and  some  of  the  other 
parts  of  America  for  adhering  to  the  royal  cause,  after  he  had  got  him- 
self quite  fixed  in  his  supreme  authority,  both  here  and  there,  contrived 
the  famous  Navigation  Act,  upon  a  model  he  borrowed  from  the  Dutch, 
by  which  the  American  Colonies  were  deprived  of  many  of  their  ancient 
and  valuable  privileges :  upon  the  Restoration,  instead  of  repealing  this 
Act,  it  was  confirmed  by  the  whole  Legislature  here;  and  to  add  to 
the  ingratitude,  at  two  other  periods  in  his  reign,  taxes  were  imposed 
on  American  commodities  under  the  pretext  of  regulations  of  trade,  from 
which  wicked  source  have  flowed  all  the  bitter  waters  that  are  now  likely 
to  overwhelm  America  or  this  country,  and  most  probably  will  in  the  end 
be  the  ruin  of  both.  But  to  return.  This  Eichard  Lee  had  several  chil- 
dren. The  two  eldest — John  and  Eichard — were  educated  at  Oxford. 
Joha  took  his  degree  as  doctor  of  physic,  and  returned  to  Virginia,  and 
died  before  his  father  Eichard.  He  was  so  clever  and  learned,  that  some 
great  men  offered  to  promote  him  to  the  highest  dignities  in  the  Church, 
if  his  father  would  let  him  stay  in  England ;  but  this  offer  was  refused, 
because  the  old  gentleman  was  determined  to  fix  all  his  children  in  Vir- 
ginia. So  firn  was  he  in  this  purpose,  that  by  his  will  he  ordered  an 


138  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

estate  he  had  in  England,  (I  think  near  Stratford-by-Bcm  in  Middlesex, ) 
at  that  time  worth  eight  hundred  or  nine  hundred  pounds  per  annum,  to 
be  sold  and  the  money  to  be  divided  among  his  children.  He  died  and 
was  buried  in  Virginia,  leaving  a  numerous  progeny,  whose  names  I  have 
chiefly  forgot.  His  eldest  son  then  living  was  Richard,  who  spent  almost 
his  whole  life  in  study,  and  usually  wrote  his  notes  in  Greek,  Hebrew, 
or  Latin, — many  of  which  are  now  in  Virginia;  so  that  he  neither  im- 
proved nor  diminished  his  paternal  estate,  though  at  that  time  he  might 
with  ease  have  acquired  what  would  at  this  day  produce  a  princely  reve- 
nue. He  was  of  the  Council  in  Virginia,  and  also  in  other  offices  of  honour 
and  profit,  though  they  yielded  little  to  him.  He  married  a  Corbin  or 
Corbyne,  I  think  of  Staffordshire  :  from  this  marriage  he  had  and  left 
behind  him  when  he  died  in  Virginia — which  was  some  time  after  the 
Revolution  [in  England  under  William  and  Mary] — five  sons, — Eichard, 
Philip,  Francis,  Thomas,  and  Henry,  and  one  daughter.*  Eichard  settled 
in  London  as  a  Virginia  merchant,  in  partnership  with  one  Thomas  Corbin, 
a  brother  of  his  mother :  he  married  an  heiress  in  England  of  the  name 
of  Silk,  and  by  her  left  one  son,  George,  and  two  daughters,  Lettuce 
and  Martha.  All  these  three  children  went  to  Virginia  and  settled. 
George  married  a  Wornily  there,  who  died  leaving  one  daughter ;  then  he 
married  a  Fairfax — nearly  related  to  Lord  Fairfax,  of  Yorkshire — and 
died,  leaving  by  his  last  marriage  three  sons  that  are  now  minors  and  are 
at  school  in  England  under  the  care  of  Mr.  James  Eussul.  Lettuce  mar- 
ried a  Corbin,  and  her  sister  married  a  Turberville  :  their  eldest  children 
intermarried,  from  which  union  George  Lee  Turberville,  now  at  school  at 
Winton  College,  is  the  eldest  issue.  Philip,  the  second  son,  went  to 
Maryland,  where  he  married  and  settled.  He  was  of  the  Proprietor's 
Council,  and  died  leaving  a  very  numerous  family,  that  are  now  branched 
out  largely  over  the  whole  Province,  and  are  in  plentiful  circumstances. 
The  eldest  son,  Eichard,  is  now  a  member  of  the  Proprietor's  Council. 
Francis,  the  third  son,  died  a  bachelor.  Thomas,  the  fourth  son,  though 
with  none  but  a  common  Virginia  education,  yet,  having  strong  natural 
parts,  long  after  he  was  a  man  he  learned  the  languages  without  any  as- 
sistance but  his  own  genius,  and  became  a  tolerable  adept  in  the  Greek 
and  Latin.  He  married  a  Ludwell,  of  whose  genealogy  I  must  give  a 
short  account,  being  maternally  interested  therein.  The  Ludwells,  though 
the  name  is  now  extinct,  are  an  old  and  honourable  family  of  Somerset- 
shire, England,  the  original  of  them  many  ages  since  coming  from  Ger- 
many. Philip  Ludwell  and  John  Ludwell,  being  brothers,  and  sons  of  a 
Miss  Cottington,  who  was  heiress  of  James  Cottington,  the  next  brother 
and  heir  to  the  famous  Lord  Francis  Cottington,  of  whom  a  pretty  full 
account  may  be  seen  in  Lord  Clarendon's  History  of  the  Rebellion,  were 
in  court  favour  after  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.  John  was  appointed 
Secretary,  and  was  one  of  the  Council  in  Virginia,  where,  I  believe,  he 
died  without  issue.  Philip,  the  eldest  brother,  went  to  America  Governor 
of  Carolina,  from  whence  he  went  to  Virginia,  and  married  the  widow  of 
Sir  William  Berkeley,  by  whom  he  had  a  daughter,  (that  married  Colonel 
Parke,  who  was  afterward  the  Governor  of  the  Leeward  Islands,  in  the 


*  The  daughter  married  Mr.  William  Fitzaugh,  of  Eagle's  Nest,  King  George 
county, — son  of  the  first  William  Pitzhugh, — and  was  the  mother  of  the  late  William 
Fitzhugh,  of  Chatham. 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  139 

West  Indies,  and  died  in  Antigua,  the  seat  of  his  government,;  and  on* 
son  named  Philip. 

"After  some  time  old  Philip  Ludwell  returned  to  England,  and  died 
here.  He  was  buried  in  Bow  Church,  near  Stratford:  his  son  Philip 
remained  in  Virginia,  where  his  father  had  acquired  a  considerable  estate, 
and  married  a  Harrison,  by  whom  he  had  two  daughters, — Lucy,  the 
eldest,  married  a  Colonel  Gryrnes,  who  was  of  the  Council  in  Virginia,  and 
Hannah,  who  married  the  before-mentioned  Thomas  Lee, — and  one  son, 
Philip.  This  Philip  was,  as  his  father  had  been,  of  the  Council  of  Vir- 
ginia. He  married  a  Grymes,  by  whom  he  had  several  children, — most  of 
whom  died  in  their  infancy,*  and  in  the  year  1753  his  wife  died  ;  in  1760 
he  came  over  to  England  for  his  health,  and  in  the  year  1767  he  died  here, 
when  the  male  line  of  Ludwell  became  extinct.  He  left  heiresses  three 
daughters, — Hannah  Philippa,  Frances,  and  Lucy :  the  second  is  since 
dead  unmarried.  This  Thomas  Lee  by  his  industry  and  parts  acquired  a 
considerable  fortune ;  for,  being  a  younger  brother,  with  many  children, 
his  paternal  estate  was  very  small.  He  was  also  appointed  of  the  Council ; 
and,  though  he  had  very  few  acquaintances  in  England,  he  was  so  well 
known  by  his  reputation,  that  upon  his  receiving  a  loss  by  fire,  the  late 
Queen  Caroline  sent  him  over  a  bountiful  present  out  of  her  own  privy 
purse.  Upon  the  late  Sir  William  Goocb's  being  recalled,  who  had  been 
some  time  Governor  of  Virginia,  he  became  President  and  Commander-in- 
chief  in  the  Colony,  in  which  station  he  continued  for  some  time,  until 
the  King  thought  proper  to  appoint  him  Governor  of  the  Colony ;  but  he 
died  before  his  commission  got  to  him.  He  left  by  his  marriage  with 
Miss  Ludwell  sis  sons, — Philip  Ludwell,  Thomas  Ludwell,  Richard  Henry, 
Francis  Lightfoot,  William,  and  Arthur, — and  two  daughters,  all  well  pro 
vided  for  in  point  of  fortune 

Here  ends  the  manuscript  of  Mr.  William  Lee,  of  London ;  but 
we  are  enabled  by  another  document  to  proceed  further,  though 
not  justified  by  the  bounds  prescribed  to  our  notices  to  pursue  it  in 
its  details.  Of  the  six  sons  of  Thon»as  Lee,  of  Stratford,  some- 
thing must  be  said,  or  we  should  be  justly  condemned. 

Philip  Ludwell,  the  eldest,  succeeded  his  father  at  Stratford,  in 
Westmoreland.  He  married  a  Miss  Steptoe,  and  left  two  daugh 
ters.  Matilda,  the  eldest,  married  General  Henry  Lee,  of  the  Revo 
lution ;  and  Flora  married  Mr.  Ludwell  Lee,  of  Loudoun.  Thomas 
Ludwell  settled  in  Stafford,  and  married  a  Miss  Aylett.  Richard 
Henry  was  educated  in  England,  and  returned  in  the  nineteenth  year 
of  his  age,  and  married  first  a  Miss  Aylett,  and  next  a  Mrs. 
Pinkard,  who  was  a  Miss  Gaskins  or  Gascoigne.  He  took  an 
active  part  in  the  Revolution.  His  life  has  been  written  by 
his  grandson,  Richard  Henry  Lee.  Francis  Lightfoot  Lee  also 
participated  largely  in  the  events  of  the  Revolution,  and  was 
regarded  as  one  of  the  ablest  orators  and  statesmen  of  that  period* 
He  married  a  Miss  Rebecca  Tayloe,  daughter  of  Colonel  John  Tay- 
loe,  of  Richmond  county.  Of  the  fifth  son,  William,  the  sheriff  and 
alderman  of.  London,  we  have  already  given  some  account.  Arthur, 


140  OLD   CEUKCHES,   MINISTBKS,  AND 

the  sixth  and  youngest,  as  a  scholar,  a  writer,  a  philosopher,  a  poli- 
tician and  diplomatist,  was  surpassed  by  none  and  equalled  by  few 
of  his  contemporaries.  He  studied  physic  in  Edinburgh,  where  he 
took  his  degrees :  but,  disliking  the  profession,  he  studied  law,  and 
distinguished  himself  as  a  lawyer  in  England.  The  services  ren- 
dered by  him  to  his  country  as  her  minister  at  foreign  courts  were 
most  valuable. 

In  the  English  document  immediately  preceding,  nothing  is  said 
of  one  branch  of  the  family, — viz. :  Henry  Lee,  one  of  the  bro- 
thers of  Thomas  Lee,  of  Stratford,  and  grandson  of  the  first  Lee. 
He  married  a  Bland,  and  had  several  children.  His  son  Richard 
was  Squire  Lee,  of  Lee  Hall.  Eis  only  daughter  married  a  Fitz- 
hugh.  Henry,  the  third  son,  married  a  Miss  Grymes,  and  left  five 
sons  and  three  daughters, — viz. :  Henry,  who  was  Colonel  in  the 
Revolution,  Charles,  Richard  Bland,  Theodoric,  and  Edmund;  also, 
Mary,  Lucy,  and  Anne.  A  numerous  posterity  has  descended  from 
these,  among  whom  are  some  bright  ornaments  of  the  Church,  the 
State,  and  the  army.  Mention  is  made  in  our  English  document 
of  one  of  the  family  at  an  early  period  moving  to  Maryland  and 
having  numerous  and  influential  descendants  in  that  Province.  I 
have  reason  to  believe,  from  recent  examinations  into  the  records 
of  different  courts  in  the  Northern  Neck,  that  some  of  that  branch 
returned  to  Virginia,  and  were  for  a  long  series  of  years  clerks  in 
the  county  of  Essex.  The  following  extract  from  a  communication 
sent  me  by  a  competent  person  establishes  the  fact.  "John  Lee, 
clerk  of  Essex  county,  who  succeeded  Captain  William  Beverley, 
came  from  Maryland.  His  nephew,  John  Lee,  who  was  a  member 
of  the  House  of  Burgesses,  succeeded  him.  At  his  death,  his  son 
Hancock  Lee  succeeded  to  the  office.  At  the  death  of  Hancock 
Lee,  his  son  John  Lee  succeeded  to  it."  Thus  four  of  the  name 
held  the  office  of  clerk  in  Essex  in  succession. 

The  family  of  Lees,  in  all  its  branches,  so  far  as  I  know  and 
believe,  have  always  been  Episcopal.  I  know  of  scarce  an  excep- 
tion. I  have  been  intimately  acquainted  with  some  most  excellent 
specimens  of  true  piety  among  them, — too  many  to  be  specified  and 
dwelt  upon.  If  tradition  and  history  and  published  documents  are 
to  be  relied  on,  the  patriotic,  laborious,  self-sacrificing,  and  eloquent 
Richard  Henry  Lee,  of  the  Revolution,  must  have  deeply  sympa- 
thized with  Washington,  and  Peyton  Randolph,  and  Pendleton,  and 
Nicholas,  and  Henry,  in  their  religious  character  and  sentiments. 

In  looking  over  the  two  volumes  containing  the  life  and  corre- 
spondence of  Richard  Henry  Lee,  of  Chantilly,  in  Westmoreland, 


FAMILIES   OF    VIRGINIA.  341 

che  reader  cannot  fail  to  ask  himself  the  question,  u  Was  there  a 
man  in  the  Union  who  did  more  in  his  own  county  and  State  and 
country,  by  action  at  home  and  correspondence  abroad,  to  prepare 
the  people  of  the  United  States  for  opposition  to  English  usurpa- 
tion, and  the  assertion  of  American  independence  ?  Was  there  a 
man  in  America  who  toiled  and  endured  more  than  he,  both  in  body 
and  mind,  in  the  American  cause  ?  Was  there  a  man  in  the  Legisla- 
ture of  Virginia,  and  in  the  Congress  of  the  Union,  who  had  the  pen 
of  a  ready  writer  so  continually  in  his  hand,  and  to  which  so  many 
public  papers  may  be  justly  ascribed,  and  by  whom  so  much  hard 
work  in  committee-rooms  was  performed?"  To  him  most  justly  was 
assigned  the  honourable  but  perilous  duty  of  first  moving  in  our 
American  Congress  "that  these  United  Colonies  are,  and  of  right 
ought  to  be,  free  and  independent  States.'7  Nor  is  it  at  all  won- 
derful that  one  who  was  conversant  with  the  plans  and  intentions 
of  the  English  ministry  should  have  declared  that,  in  the  event 
of  the  reduction  of  the  Colonies,  the  delivery  of  General  Wash- 
ington and  Richard  Henry  Lee  would  be  demanded,  in  order  to 
their  execution  as  rebels.  Although  the  great  principles  of  morality 
and  religion  rest  on  infinitely  higher  ground  than  the  opinion  of 
the  greatest  and  best  of  men,  yet  it  i&  most  gratifying  to  find  them 
sustained  in  the  writings  and  actions  of  such  a  man  as  Richard 
Henry  Lee.  Mr.  Lee  advocated  private  education  as  being  better 
calculated  for  impressing  the  minds  of  the  young  "with  a  love  of 
religion  and  virtue."  His  biographer  says  that  he  had  early  studied 
the  evidences  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  had  through  life 
avowed  his  belief  in  its  divine  origin.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  in  full  communion,  and  took  a  deep  interest  in 
its  welfare.  He  proved  the  sincerity  of  what  has  been  quoted  from 
him,  in  favour  of  private  education,  by  having  a  minister  or  can- 
didate for  the  ministry  in  his  family  as  private  tutor.  Mr.  Bal- 
maine  was  sent  over  to  him  by  his  brother  Arthur,  from  London, 
as  both  a  staunch  friend  of  America  and  a  pious  man.  I  have 
often  heard  Mr.  Balmaine  speak  in  the  highest  terms  of  Mr.  Lee 
as  a  Christian  and  a  patriotic  statesman.  His  aitacnment  to  the 
Church  of  his  fathers  was  evinced  by  the  interest  he  took  in  seek- 
ing to  obtain  consecration  for  our  Bishops,  immediately  after  the 
war,  and  when  he  was  President  of  Congress.  Twice  were  thanks 
returned  to  him  by  our  General  Convention  for  his  services.  Mr. 
Lee  was  a  decided  advocate  of  the  appointment  of  public  acts  of 
supplication  and  thanksgiving  to  Almighty  God  in  times  of  adver- 
sity and  prosperity.  When  all  was  dark  and  lowering  in  our 


142  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

political  horizon,  and  when  it  was  proposed  that,  as  one  means  of 
propitiating  the  favour  of  God,  it  should  be  recommended  to  the 
different  States  to  take  the  most  effectual  means  for  the  encou- 
raging of  religion  and  good  morals,  and  for  suppressing  "theatrical 
entertainments,  horse-racing,  gaming,  and  such  other  diversions  as 
are  productive  of  idleness,  dissipation,  and  a  general  depravity  of 
manners,"  while  some  voted  against  the  measure,  Mr.  Lee  was 
found  in  company  with  the  most  pious  men  of  the  land  in  favour 
of  it,  and  it  was  carried  by  a  large  majority.  Again,  when  by  the 
capture  of  Burgoyne's  army  the  hearts  of  Americans  were  cheered, 
we  find  Mr.  Lee  one  of  a  committee  drafting  a  preamble  and  reso- 
lution, which  is  believed  to  be  from  his  own  pen,  in  the  following  pious 
strain : — "  Forasmuch  as  it  is  the  indispensable  duty  of  all  men  to 
adore  the  superintending  providence  of  Almighty  God,  to  acknow- 
ledge with  gratitude  their  obligation  to  him  for  benefits  received,  and 
to  implore  such  further  blessings  as  they  stand  in  need  of;  and  it 
having  pleased  him,  in  his  abundant  mercy,  not  only  to  continue  to 
us  the  innumerable  bounties  of  his  common  providence,  but  also  to 
smile  upon  us  in  the  prosecution  of  a  just  and  necessary  war  for 
the  independence  and  establishment  of  our  unalienable  rights  and 
liberties ;  particularly  in  that  he  hath  been  pleased  in  so  great  a 
measure  to  prosper  the  means  used  for  the  support  of  our  arms, 
and  crown  them  with  the  most  signal  success :  it  is  therefore  re- 
commended to  the  Legislature  and  executive  powers  of  these  States, 
to  set  apart  Thursday,  the  eighteenth  of  December  next,  for  solemn 
thanksgiving  and  praise ;  that  with  one  heart  and  one  voice  the 
people  may  express  the  feelings  of  their  hearts,  and  consecrate 
themselves  to  the  service  of  their  Divine  Benefactor ;  and,  together 
with  their  sincere  acknowledgments  and  offerings,  they  may  join 
the  penitent  confession  of  their  manifold  sins,  whereby  they  have 
forfeited  every  favour,  and  their  earnest  and  humble  supplication 
that  it  may  please  God,  through  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ,  merci- 
fully to  forgive  and  blot  them  out  of  remembrance ;  that  it  may 
please  God/'  &c. 

Mr.  Lee,  though  entirely  opposed  to  any  Church  establishment, 
was,  together  with  Henry,  an  advocate  for  a  proposition  to  make 
every  man  contribute  to  the  support  of  the  Christian  religion,  as 
the  only  sure  basis  of  private  and  public  morality.  In  this,  how- 
ever, they  failed.  When  the  question  about  paying  debts* in  depre- 
ciated currency  came  on,  Mr.  Lee  evinced  his  high  and  honourable 
sense  of  morality  in  the  earnest  and  eloquent  opposition  IT  ado  to 
it.  He  declared  that  nothing  so  deeply  distressed  him  as  a  pro- 
position which  he  regarded  as  a  violation  cf  honesty  and  ^ood  faith 


FAMILIES   OF    VIRGINIA. 

among  men,  and  said  that  it  "  would  have  been  better  to  have  re- 
mained the  honest  slaves  of  Britain,  than  dishonest  freemen."* 

Of  the  descendants  of  so  great  and  good  a  man,  I  cannot  refrain 
from  adding  something.  His  oldest  son  was  Thomas  Lee,  whose 
daughter  Eleanor  married  Girard  Alexander.  His  second  son  was 
Mr.  Ludwell  Lee,  of  Loudoun  county,  who-  was  a  worthy  member 
of  our  Church,  and  left  children  and  grandchildren  who  have  fol- 
lowed his  example.  His  daughter  Mary  married  Colonel  William 
Augustin  Washington,  but  died  childless.  His  daughter  Hannah 
married  Mr.  Corbin  Washington,  many  of  whose  descendants  have 
been  or  are  zealous  members  of  the  Church.  His  daughter  Harriet 
married  twice, — first  Mr.  George  Turberville,  and  then  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Maffit,  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Many  of  their  descendants, 
whether  of  the  Episcopal  or  Presbyterian  Church,  are  characterized 
by  exemplary  piety.  Sally  married  Edmund  I.  Lee,  of  Alexandria, 
and  has  left  a  numerous  posterity  of  children  and  grandchildren 
and  great-grandchildren,  who  belong  to  and  love  the  Church  of 
their  ancestors.  The  Rev.  William  F.  Lee  was  one  of  her  sons. 

Anne,  the  other  daughter  of  R.  H.  Lee,  married  Charles  Lee. 
Her  daughter  Ann  married  General  Walter  Jones,  and  was  the 
mother  of  a  numerous  family  of  children,  who  love  the  religion  and 
Church  of  their  ancestors.  Her  daughter  Catherine  is  one  of  our 
missionaries  in  China. 

NOHTHUMBBELAND   HOUSE. 

On  the  Potomac,  and  within  sight  of  the  bay,  are  the  remains 
of  an  old  graveyard,  belonging  to  what  has  always  gone  by  the 
name  of  the  "Northumberland  House."  The  place  was  originally 
settled  and  a  house  built  on  it  by  a  Mr.  Presley,  one  of  the  earliest 
settlers,  who  was  murdered  in  it  by  his  own  servants.  It  was 
afterward  owned  by  Mr.  Presley  Thornton,  who  lies  buried  there. 
The  following  extract  from  the  letter  of  a  friend  is  worthy  of  in- 
sertion : — 

"  I  have  also,  according  to  promise,  visited  the  graveyard  of  old  North- 
umberland House,  and  found  the  remains  of  but  one  tombstone.  This, 
although  erected  of  the  heaviest  materials,  has  been  so  much  mutilated 
by  lightning  and  the  waste  of  time,  that  nothing  more  can  be  deciphered 
than  that  it  was  erected  to  the  memory  of  Presley  Thornton,  who  was 
elected  in  early  life  to  the  House  of  Burgesses  from  the  county  of  North- 
umberland, which  office  he  held  until  1760,  when  he  was  appointed  one 
of  the  Council  of  State  for  this  Colony;  and  that  he  filled  both  offices 
with  great  credit  to  himself  and  to  the  public  emolument.  He  departed 

*  I  have  ascertained,  beyond  a  doubt,  that  he  was  buried  at  Chantilly,  in  the 
vard  or  garden. 


144  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

tliis  life  on  the  8th  of  December,  1769,  in  the  forty-eighth  year  of  his 
age,  having  enjoyed  all  the  chief  honours  of  his  country/' 

To  this  I  add  that,  in  the  absence  of  the  vestry-books  and  court- 
records,  I  find  that  at  an  early  period  the  Lees,  Presleys,  POT- 
thresses,  Kenners,  Thorntons,  Newtons,  &c.  were  the  leading  per- 
sons in  Northumberland. 

The  assertion  by  Mr.  Lee  that  Charles  II.  was  proclaimed  King 
in  Virginia  before  he  was  received  as  such  in  England  is  a  matter 
of  dispute  among  historians.  Beverley,  our  earliest,  who  published 
his  work  in  1705, — about  forty-five  years  after  the  event  is  said  to 
have  occurred, — affirms  it  as  a  fact,  Robertson,  the  historian,  and 
Chalmers,  another  writer  of  that  day,  repeat  the  same.  Burke, 
who  published  in  1805,  agrees  with  the  foregoing  so  far  as  to  think 
that  something  of  the  kind  took  place,  though  not  in  a  regular  way. 
Dr.  Hawks  agrees  with  Beverley  and  his  followers.  Mr.  Henning, 
in  his  Statutes  at  Large,  compiled  by  order  of  the  Virginia  Assem- 
bly, and  commenced  in  1809,  is  of  opinion  that  there  is  no  founda- 
tion for  any  such  supposition,  and  appeals  to  the  entire  absence  of 
all  notice  of  such  proceeding  in  the  documents  of  that  period. 
Mr.  Bancroft  and  Mr.  Charles  Campbell  adopt  the  opinion  of  Mr. 
Henning.  Of  course,  if  it  was  an  irregular,  partial,  or  tumultuous 
act  of  individuals,  as  Mr.  Burke  supposes,  we  could  not  expect  to 
see  it  among  the  recorded  Acts  of  Assembly,  as  we  do  see  the  later 
and  more  formal  acknowledgment  of  Charles  II.  It  is  not,  how- 
ever, a  matter  of  sufficient  importance  to  produce  a  Trojan  war. 
It  is  scarcely  probable  that  Mr.  Lee  is  mistaken  in  the  tradition 
that  his  ancestor  was  a  zealous  loyalist,  and  did,  on  his  return  to 
England,  visit  Charles  at  Breda  and  hold  communion  with  him  on 
the  subject  of  his  acknowledgment  by  Virginia,  then  having  so 
many  staunch  Cavaliers  in  it,  whatever  uncertainty  may  rest  upon 
the  subsequent  proceedings. 

Since  the  foregoing  article  was  written,  I  have  received  some 
further  information  concerning  the  first  of  the  Lee  family  and  his 
children,  which  is  worthy  of  insertion.  The  will  of  the  first  Richard 
Lee,  dated  1663,  may  be  seen  in  Mr.  Charles  Campbell's  History 
of  Virginia,  p.  157.  From  it  I  extract  the  following : — "I,  Colonel 
Richard  Lee,  of  Virginia,  and  lately  of  Stratford-Langton,  in  the 
county  of  Essex,  Esquire,  being  bound  out  upon  a  voyage  to  Vir- 
ginia aforesaid,  and  not  knowing  how  it  may  please  Grod  to  dispose 
of  me  in  so  long  a  voyage,"  &c.  "  First,  I  give  and  bequeath  my  soul 
to  that  good  and  gracious  God  that  gave  it  me,  and  to  my  blessed 
Redeemer  Jesus  Christ,  assuredly  trusting  in  and  by  his  meritorious 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  145 

death  and  passion  to  receive  salvation,  and  my  body  to  be  disposed 
of,  whether  by  sea  or  land,  according  to  the  opportunity  of  the 
place,  not  doubting  but  at  the  last  day  both  body  and  soul  shall  be 
united  and  glorified."  Here  again  we  see  the  faith  and  the  divinity 
of  that  day.  He  then  directs  that  his  wife  and  children,  who  it 
seems  had  not  yet  been  to  Virginia,  should  be  sent  there,  except 
Francis,  to  whose  option  it  was  left.  To  his  wife  Anna  he  left 
Stratford-on-the-Potowmacke  (to  which  he  had  removed  from  Cobbs") 
and  Mock  Neeke,  together  with  servants  black  and  white,  and  other 
property  during  her  life.  To  his  son  John  he  leaves  his  plantation 
called  Matholic,  with  servants,  &c.  This  is  now  the  Mount  Pleasant 
farm  owned  by  Mr.  Willowby  Newton.  To  his  son  Richard  he 
leaves  his  plantation  called  Paradise,  and  the  servants  there.  To 
his  son  Francis  he  leaves  his  plantations  called  Paper-Maker's 
Neck  and  War  Captain's  Neck,  with  servants  black  and  white.  To 
his  five  younger  children,  William,  Hancock,  Betsy,  Anne,  and 
Charles,  he  leaves  a  plantation,  including  Bishop's  Neck  on  the 
Potomac,  four  thousand  acres  on  the  Potomac,  together  with  Strat- 
ford and  Mock  Neck  at  the  death  of  their  mother.  To  William  he 
leaves  his  lands  on  the  Maryland  side ;  to  Francis  an  interest  in 
his  two  ships.  He  also  leaves  a  fund  for  the  better  education  in 
England  of  his  two  oldest  sons,  John  and  Richard. 

Since  writing  the  account  of  the  marriages  of  Richard  Henry, 
as  given  by  his  brother  William  Lee,  I  have  received  two  commu- 
nications, stating  that  one  of  his  wives  was  a  Miss  Gaskins,  so  that, 
unless  he  was  married  three  times,  there  must  have  been  a  mistake 
as  to  the  name  of  one  of  those  before  mentioned. 

THE   CORBIN   FAMILY. 

The  following  account  of  the  Corbin  family  may  very  properly 
be  added  to  that  of  the  Lees,  on  account  of  their  early  connection 
by  marriage. 

The  vestry-books  of  Middlesex  and  King  and  Queen  counties 
doubtless  speak  of  some  of  the  same  persons  mentioned  in  this 
genealogy. 

Henry  Corbin  settled  in  the  parish  of  Stratton  Major,  King  and 
Queen,  about  the  year  1650.  One  Nicholas  Jernew  obtained  a 
patent  for  Peekatone,  in  the  county  of  Westmoreland,  dated  18th 
October,  1650,  which  he  transferred  to  Henry  Corbin,  who  had 
another  patent  issued  in  his  own  name,  dated  26th  of  March,  1664. 
Henry  Corbin  had  three  children,  of  whom  mention  is  made  in  the 
sld  papers  in  my  possession.  Thomas  Corbin,  one  of  his  sons, 

VOL  IL— 10 


146  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

must  have  died  without  male  Issue,  as  his  brother  Gawin  Corbin, 
by  his  will,  devises  to  his  son  Gawin  Corbin  "the  land  of  my 
brother,  the  late  Mr.  Thomas  Corbin."  His  eldest  daughter, 
Letitia,  married  Richard  Lee,  second  son  of  Colonel  Richard  Lee. 
Gawin  Corbin,  the  other  son  of  Henry  Corbin,  and  once  President 
of  the  Council,  married  a  daughter  of  William  Bassett,  and  left 
seven  children, — three  sons  and  four  daughters.  Jenny,  one  of  his 
daughters,  married  a  Mr.  Bushrod;  Joanna  married  Major  Robert 
Tucker;  Alice  married  Benjamin  Needier,  and  the  other  a  Mr. 
Allerton.  His  sons  were — 1st,  Richard  Corbin  of  Laneville,  who 
married  Miss  Betty  Tayloe,  daughter  of  Colonel  John  Tayloe, 
(Carter  Braxton  married  their  oldest  daughter ;)  2d,  John  Corbin, 
of  whose  history  I  am  ignorant,  (the  lands  devised  to  him  were 
chiefly  in  Maryland;)  3d,  Gawin  Corbin,  once  a  member  of  the 
Council,  and  who  married  Hannah  Lee,  sister  of  Richard  Henry 
Lee.  Gawin  Corbin,  third  grandson  of  Henry  Corbin,  left  an 
only  daughter,  Martha,  who  married  George  Turberville.  George 
Turberville  left  two  sons, — viz.:  Gawin  Corbin  Turberville,  and 
Richard  Lee  Turberville.  Gawin  Corbin  Turberville  married  a 
daughter  of  Colonel  John  Dangerfield,  and  left  an  only  daughter, 
Mary,  who  married  William  F.  Taliafero. 

A  friend  has  sent  me  the  following  record,  which  shows  at  how 
early  a  period  that  kind  of  dissipation  which  proved  so  destructive 
to  Virginia  made  its  appearance  in  the  Northern  Neck.  "  John 
Lee,  Henry  Corbin,  Thomas  Gerrard,  and  Isaac  Allerton,  en- 
tered into  a  compact,  dated  80th  of  March,  1670,  (recorded  27th 
March,  1774,)  to  build  a  banqueting-house  at  or  near  the  corner 
of  their  respective  lands." 


FAMILIES   OP   VIRGINIA.  147 


ARTICLE  LX. 

Cople  Parish^  Westmoreland  County. 

WESTMORELAND  county  was  cut  off  from  Northumberland  county 
in  1653,  and  extended  along  the  Potomac  as  high  as  the  Palls  above 
Georgetown.  In  the  years  1661-62  the  two  counties  were  tempo- 
rarily reunited,  because,  by  the  removal  of  some  leading  persons, 
there  was  not  a  suitable  number  of  civil  and  military  gentlemen  to 
constitute  a  proper  commission  in  either  of  them  alone.  After  some 
time  Stafford  was  taken  from  Westmoreland,  leaving  it  a  small, 
narrow  county  lying  on  the  Potomac,  and  only  extending  half-way 
across  the  neck  toward  the  Rappahannock  River.  First  Lancaster, 
then  Rappahannock,  and  then  Richmond  counties,  divided  what 
is  now  Westmoreland.  In  time,  all  the  land  lying  between  the 
rivers  was  given  to  Westmoreland,  and  Cople  parish  occupied  the 
lower  part  of  the  county  and  Washington  the  upper.  We  will  begin 
with  Cople  parish. 

The  first  minister  we  have  on  any  of  our  lists  is  the  Rev.  Charles 
Rose,  brother  to  the  Rev.  Robert  Rose,  of  Essex.  He  appears  on 
the  earliest  list  we  have, — that  of  1754, — but  from  the  diary  of  his 
brother  we  know  that  he  was  its  minister  some  years  before  this. 
He  was  also  minister  in  1758.  In  the  year  1773,  the  Rev.  Thomas 
Smith  was  its  minister,  as  he  was  in  1776.  Either  before  or  after 
him,  we  are  informed  that  the  Rev.  Augustine  Smith  was  its 
minister.  We  presume  that  they  were  relatives  of  the  many  re- 
spectable persons  of  that  name  in  this  and  other  counties  around, 
but  we  have  received  no  particular  account  of  them.  In  the  year 
1799,  the  Rev.  James  Elliott  was  minister.  Of  him  we  hear  nothing 
good  from  this  or  any  other  parish  which  he  served.  We  hear  of 
no  other  minister  in  Cople  parish  until  the  Rev.  Washington  Nelson 
took  charge  of  it  in  connection  with  the  parishes  in  Richmond 
county.  He  was  succeeded  in  1842  by  the  Rev,  Mr.  Ward.  The 
Rev.  Mr.  Rumney  succeeded  him  in  1849,  and  was  succeeded  by 
the  Rev.  Edward  MeGhiire  in  1850.  He  was  followed  by  the  Rev. 
William  McGuire  in  1852.  The  present  minister,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Dashiel,  took  charge  of  it  in  1854. 

There  were  two  churches  in  this  parish, — one  at  Yeocomico  River 


OLD   CHL7RCHES3    MINISTERS,    AND 

or  Creek,  from  which  it  takes  its  name,  Yeocomico  ;  and  another 
about  ten  miles  off,  on  Nominy  River  or  Creek,  from  which  it  also 
took  the  name  of  Nominy.  The  latter  was  destroyed  by  fire  soon 
after  our  last  war  with  England,  but  a  new  brick  one  has  taken  its 
place  within  the  last  few  years.  The  plate  belonging  to  this  church 
was  carried  off  by  Admiral  Cockburn  and  his  party,  when  they  were 
on  a  pillaging-expedition  on  the  Potomac  and  its  tributaries.  The 
plate  was  kept  on  a  plantation  upon  the  banks  of  1ST ominy  River,  just 
opposite  the  church.  The  farm  itself  was  called  Nominy,  and  was 
then,  and  still  is,  owned  by  the  Griffith  family,  relatives  of  the  Bishop- 
elect  of  that  name.  The  house  was  plundered  and  then  burned. 
The  other— Yeocomico  Church— is  still  in  good  repair,  but  among 
the  rudest  and  roughest  of  all  the  old  brick  churches.  It  was  built 
in  1706.  For  the  first  time  a  new  roof  has,  within  a  few  years, 
been  put  upon  it,  and  some  internal  changes  been  made  in  it. 
Although  I  think  it  might  have  been  better  done  and  made  more 
complete,  yet  it  would  be  difficult,  and  perhaps  not  desirable,  to 
give  a  more  modem  aspect  to  it.  The  following  extract  from  my 
report  in  1838  may  not  be  without  interest  to  the  reader : — 

"  On  Monday  I  went,  in  company  with  Mr.  Nelson,  to  Yeocomico 
Church,  in  Westmoreland,  where  1  preached,  and  administered  the  rite  of 
Confirmation  to  three  persons. 

"  Yeocomico  Church,  so  called  after  the  river  of  that  name,  is  one  of 
the  old  churches,  being  built  in  the  year  1706.  The  architecture  is  rough, 
but  very  strong,  and  the  materials  must  have  been  of  the  besfc  kind.  Its 
figure  is  that  of  a  cross,  and,  situated  as  it  is,  in  a  little  recess  from  the 
main  road,  in  the  midst  of  some  aged  trees,  and  surrounded  by  an  old  brick 
wall  which  is  fast  mouldering  away,  it  cannot  fail  to  be  an  object  of  interest 
to  one  whose  soul  has  any  sympathy  for  such  scenes.  It  has  undergone 
but  little  repair  since  its  first  erection,  and  indeed  has  needed  little.  It  is 
not  known  or  believed  that  a  single  new  shingle  has  ever  been  put  upon 
the  roof,  and  the  pews  and  whole  interior  are  the  same.  During  the  late 
war  it  was  shamefully  abused  by  the  soldiers  who  were  quartered  in  it 
while  watching  the  movements  of  the  British  on  the  Potomac.  The  Com- 
munion-table was  removed  into  the  yard,  where  it  served  as  a  butcher's 
block,  and  was  entirely  defaced.  Being  of  substantial  materials,  however, 
it  admitted  of  a  new  face  and  polish,  and  is  now  restored  to  its  former 
place,  where  it  will  answer,  we  trust,  for  a  long  time  to  come,  the  holy 
purposes  for  which  it  was  originally  designed.  Nor  was  the  baptismal  font 
exempt  from  profanation.  It  was  taken  some  miles  from  the  church,  and 
used  as  a  vessel  in  which  to  prepare  the  excitements  to  ungodly  mirth. 
This,  however  was  not  long  permitted,  for  in  the  absence  of  every  member 
of  our  own  communion,  none  being  left  to  do  it,  a  venerable  old  man  of 
the  Presbyterian  connection,*  mortified  at  the  dishonour  done  to  religion, 


*  The  name  of  this  worthy  old  man  is  Murphy.    He  has  now  gone  to  Ms  rest 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  149 

took  pains  to  regain  it  and  restore  it  to  its  former  place.  It  is  a  large  and 
beautiful  marble  font,  and  by  its  side  I  took  my  station  while  I  heard  the 
renewal  of  baptismal  TOWS  from  the  lips  of  those  who  were  confirmed. 
The  canvas  on  which  the  Ten  Commandments,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  the 
Creed  were  impressed  was  so  torn  by  the  soldiers  that  they  could  no 
longer  be  permitted  to  retain  their  place,  and  are  now  lying  in  fragments 
in  one  of  the  distant  and  unoccupied  pews. 

"  It  deserves  to  be  mentioned  that  whatever  repairs  have  been  put  upon 
this  house  were  at  the  expense  of  the  good  man  mentioned  above,  and  a 
worthy  gentleman  of  New  York,  a  member  of  our  communion,  and  whose 
matrimonial  connection  in  the  family  often  brought  him  to  that  part  of 
Virginia.  A  large  and  excellent  stove,  which  completely  warmed  the 
whole  church,  was  a  present  from  the  latter,  and  on  the  desk  and  pulpit 
the  Bible  and  Prayer-Book  bear  the  name  of  J.  Rogers,  of  New  York  '' 

It  deserves  to  be  stated  that  I  have  in  my  possession  a  eon- 
tract  with  the  vestry  for  the  repairs  of  this  church  in  1773,  at  a 
cost  of  one  hundred  pounds,  or  five  hundred  dollars.  In  the  agree- 
ment, various  repairs  within  and  without  the  house  and  in  the  walls 
around  the  yard  are  specified,  but  nothing  is  said  about  a  new  roof, 
which  goes  to  establish  the  tradition  that  the  present  roof  is  the 
original  one  put  upon  the  house  in  1706. 

THE  M'GUIRE  FAMILY,  BY  THE  PRESENT  MINISTER  OF  COPLE  PARISH. 

For  twenty  years  or  more,  prior  to  the  pastorate  of  the  Rev.  Wash- 
ington Nelson,  this  parish  was  without  clerical  services.  In  all  that 
time  there  was  nothing  except  the  visitations  of  the  Bishop  to  re- 
mind the  people  here  that  there  was  an  Episcopal  Church.  And 
depressing  as  was  such  a  state  of  things,  and  calculated  as  it  was 
to  break  us  down  entirely,  we  were  just  as  likely  to  have  the  same 
end  brought  about  by  the  life  and  character  of  the  man  who  had 
last  been  rector.  I  do  not  know  whether  this  man  resigned  the 
parish,  or  died  whilst  in  charge :  be  that  as  it  may,  his  course  was 
well  calculated  to  disgust  people  and  drive  them  from  our  services. 
Looking  at  the  consequences  which  must  naturally  flow  from  such 
a  connection,  and  from  the  long  period  in  which  there  was  entire 
absence  of  Episcopal  ministrations,  we  cannot  otherwise  than  won" 
ler,  whilst  we  thank  God,  as  we  now  see  our  Church  upon  the 
same  spot  enjoying  every  promise  of  prosperity.  Whilst,  during 
the  period  referred  to,  there  was  nothing  done  by  us,  other  Chris- 
tian bodies  were  active ;  and,  under  all  the  influences  which  operated 
against  us,  it  is  not  surprising  that  all  or  nearly  all  who  had  any 
affection  for  our  Church  should  have  lost  their  feelings  of  attach- 
ment and  have  sought  comfort  elsewhere.  In  truth,  when  Mr. 
Nelson  came  here  the  Episcopal  Church  had  nearly  died  out.  The 


150  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

only  comnrauicants  lie  found  were  three  old  ladies  In  the  humblest 
walks  of  life.  An  account  of  these  pious  and  excellent  people  was 
published  by  Mr.  Nelson,  but  I  believe  it  must  be  out  of  print. 
Even,  however,  if  there  should  be  any  copies  of  it  in  existence, 
their  history  is  so  remarkable  that  it  will  very  well  bear  the  mention 
here  made.  The  name  of  these  sisters  was  McGruire, — Miss  Emily, 
Miss  Mary,  and  a  widow,  Mrs.  Davis.  Two  of  them  are  still  alive 
and  still  continue  warmly  attached  to  our  Church,  and  are  exerting 
a  considerable  influence  in  its  favour  among  their  acquaintances. 
The  eldest  of  them — Miss  Emily — died  in  August,  1855.  I  tried  to 
obtain  for  myself  a  satisfactory  account  of  how  they  became  Epis- 
copalians, and  how  they  retained  their  love  for  the  Church  when 
every  one  else  in  the  surrounding  country  deserted  it.  They  said, 
in  substance,  that  they  had  been  educated  by  their  mother,  who  was 
an  Episcopalian,  and  brought  up  to  love  all  our  services.  They 
were  baptized  by  our  ministry,  and  attended  its  preaching  whenever 
they  could.  When  their  mother  died  she  left  them  a  large  Prayer- 
Book,  with  the  request  that  they  would  abide  by  its  teachings ; 
and,  from  affection  for  her  as  well  as  for  the  Church,  they  obeyed 
her  word.  They  told  how  the  Church  had  flourished  in  days  gone 
by, — how  it  had  been  ridiculed  when  its  clergy  behaved  badly, — 
and  how  the  members  had  been  shamed  away  from  it,  and  how 
themselves  still  clung  to  it.  I  asked  them  how  they  got  along 
during  the  many  years  there  was  no  minister.  "Why,  sir/'  said 
Miss  Emily,  "  whenever  there  was  preaching  at  Westmoreland  or 
Richmond  Court-House,  we  would  walk  to  it? — once  in  a  while  we 
would  have  this  chance, — and  when  there  was  no  preaching  I  would 
read  the  Lessons  on  Sunday  to  my  sister  and  we  would  go  through 
the  morning  service,  and  if  any  neighbours  came  in  maybe  I  would 
read  a  sermon."  Westmoreland  Court-House  is  four  miles  from 
their  residence  and  Richmond  Court-House  about  twelve  miles; 
and  I  have  it  certified  by  others  that  the  statement  of  Miss  Emily 
is  true, — they  have  been  known  to  walk  to  and  from  these  places 
to  attend  our  Church  services  in  the  coldest  and  hottest  weather. 
I  asked  them  if  in  that  time  they  never  attended  the  services  of 
other  denominations.  "Well,  sir,"  they  said,  "we  did  sometimes; 
they  would  be  holding  church  all  around  us,  and  sometimes  we 
would  go ;  but  it  wasn't  like  home  to  us.  We  know  they're  good, 
but  still  we  felt  happier  worshipping  here  in  our  own  way." 

The  piety  of  these  worthy  people  is  even  more  remarkable  than 
their  attachment  to  their  Church.  They  are  very  poor,  but  their 
uniform  contentment  and  happiness  is  rarely  to  be  met  with.  Upon 


FAMI1IES   OF  VIRGINIA.  151 

one  occasion  whilst  Miss  Emily  was  alive,  her  sister  Mary  remarked 
that  now  in  their  old  age  they  sometimes  got  right  cold  while  walk- 
ing to  church  in  the  winter.  "But  what  of  that,  sister?"  says 
Miss  Emily ;  "  why  should  we  care  for  that  ?"  "  And  I  don't  care 
for  it,"  was  the  reply. 

We  have  mentioned  that  Miss  Emily  died  in  August,  1855.  She 
was  very  aged,  and  for  some  weeks  previous  to  her  decease  was 
imbecile.  It  pleased  God,  however,  not  to  let  her  depart  in  this 
state.  The  day  before  she  died  her  reason  returned,  and  she  talked 
solemnly  and  impressively  to  those  around  her.  She  remained  thus 
conscious  almost  up  to  the  very  moment  of  her  death.  Miss  Mary 
and  Mrs.  Davis  still  attend  their  church  and  see  the  parish  which 
once  could  number  only  themselves  as  its  friends,  now  containing 
more  than  twenty  families,  about  thirty  communicants  now  living, 
and  many  evidences  that  it  is  still  to  flourish.  May  God  help  us 
to  remember  and  cherish  the  poor ! 

To  this  it  well  deserves  to  be  added,  that  during  the  entire  inter- 
mission of  services  in  this  parish,  these  sisters  were  in  the  habit 
of  going  once  in  a  year  in  a  sail-boat  to  Alexandria  in  order  to 
receive  the  Communion. 

THE  NEWTON"  FAMILY. 

From  a  document  of  Mr.  Willowby  Newton,  father  of  the  present 
Willowby,  and  grandson  of  a  Willowby  Newton,  I  learn  that  at  an 
early  period  four  brothers  emigrated  to  Virginia, — one  of  whom 
settled  in  Norfolk,  another  in  Alexandria,  one  in  Westmoreland, 
and  one  in  Stafford ;  so  that  it  is  probable  that  all  of  the  name  in 
Virginia,  and  many  out  of  it,  are  from  the  same  stock.  Richard 
Lee,  of  Lee  Hall,  in  Westmoreland,  not  far  from  the  ruins  of  the 
old  burnt  house,  which  was  an  ancient  Lee  establishment,  married 
a  Miss  Poythress,  of  Prince  George,  who  was  a  granddaughter  of 
Richard  Bland.  After  the  death  of  Mr.  Lee — commonly  called 
Squire  Lee — she  married  Mr.  Willowby  Newton,  both  of  whom 
were  vestrymen,  as  was  John  Newton,  father  of  this  Willowby, 
and  son  of  the  first  Willowby.  The  name  of  Willowby  was  an 
ancient  one  about  Norfolk,  and  intermarried  mth  the  Newtons. 

At  Bushfield,  in  this  county,  there  is  an  inscription  which  gives 
us  the  origin  of  the  name  Bushrod,  which  is  incorporated  in  many 
other  names  of  Virginia: — 

"  Here  lies  the  body  of  John  Bushrod,  Gentleman,  son  of  Richard 
Bushrod,  Gentleman,  by  Apphia  his  wife.  He  was  born  in  Gloucester 


152  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

county,  Virginia,  the  30th  of  January,  1663.  He  took  for  his  wife  Han 
nah,  the  daughter  of  William  Keene,  of  Northumberland ,  and  Elizabeth 
his  wife,  and  by  her  left  two  sons  and  four  daughters,  and  died  the  6th  of 
February,  1719,  in  the  56th  year  of  his  age." 

At  "Wilmington,  the  family  seat  of  the  Newtons,  we  have  also  the 
following  inscription : — 

"  Beneath  this  stone  are  deposited  the  remains  of  Mrs.  Sarah  Newton, 
daughter  of  George  Eskridge,  and  late  wife  of  Captain  Willowby  Newton, 
of  Westmoreland  county,  who,  after  having  justly  established  the  cha- 
racter of  a  dutiful  child,  a  faithful  friend,  an  affectionate  mother,  and 
sincere  Christian,  departed  this  life  on  the  2d  of  December,  1758,  in  the 
46th  year  of  her  age." 

In  the  same  graveyard  is  the  tomb  of  Mrs,  Elizabeth  Oldham, 
wife  of  Colonel  Samuel  Oldham,  who  died  in  1759,  in  her  72d  year. 

TOMBSTONES  IN  COPLE   PAKISH. 

From  a  tombstone  in  the  Burnt-House  fields,  at  Mount  Pleasant, 
Westmoreland  county,  where  are  yet  to  be  seen  the  foundations 
of  large  buildings,  are  the  following : — 

"Hie  conditur  corpus  Bichardi  Lee,  Annigeri,  nati  in  Virginia,  filii 
Eiehardi  Lee,  generosi,  et  antiqua  familia,  in  Merton-Regis,  in  comitatu 
Salopiensi,  oriundi. 

"In  magistratum  obeundo  boni  publici  studiosissimi,  in  literis  Grsecis 
et  Latinis  et  aliis  humanioris  literature  disciplinis  versatissimi. 

"Deo,  quern,  summa  observantia  semper  coluit,  animam  tranquillus 
reddidit  xii.  mo.  die  Martii,  anno  MDCCXIV.  setat.  LXYHL"  * 

"  Hie,  juxta,  sitam  est  corpus  Lsetitise  ejusdem  uxoris  fidse,  filiae  Henrici 
Corbyn,  generosi,  liberorum  matris  amantissimae,  pietate  erga  Deum, 
charitate  erga  egenos,  benignitate  erga  omnes  insignia.  Obiit  Octob  die 
vi.  MDCCVL  setatis  XLIX." 

The  first  is  thus  translated : — 

"Here  lieth  the  body  of  Richard  Lee,  Esq.,  born  in  Virginia,  son  of 
Eichard  Lee,  Gentleman,  descended  of  an  ancient  family  of  Merton-Regis, 
in  Shropshire. 

"  While  he  exercised  the  office  of  a  magistrate  he  was  a  zealous  pro- 
moter of  the  public  good.  He  was  very  skilful  in  the  Greek  and  Latin 
languages  and  other  parts  of  polite  learning.  He  quietly  resigned  his 
isoul  to  God,  whom  he  always  devoutly  worshipped,  on  the  12th  day  of 
March,  in  the  year  1714,  in  the  68th  year  of  his  age/7 

The  second  is  thus  translated: — 

"Near  by  is  interred  the  body  of  Lettuce, Ms  faithful  wife,  daughter 
of  Henry  Corbyn,  Gentleman.  A  most  affectionate  mother,  she  was  also 


FAMILIES    01    VIRGINIA.  152 

distinguished  by  piety  toward  God,  charity  to  the  poor,  and  kindness  to  all 
She  died  on  the  6th  day  of  October,  1706,  in  the  49th  year  of  her  age." 

VESTRYMEN    OF   COPLB   PARISH. 

Although  no  vestry-book  of  this  parish  has  come  down  to  us 
from  which  we  might  give  a  connected  list  of  the  vestrymen,  yet 
we  are  glad  to  present  to  our  readers  the  result  of  two  elections 
which  "were  held  in  this  parish,  —  the  one  in  1755,  and  the  other  in 
1785.  Those  chosen  in  1755  were  John  Bushrod,  Daniel  Tibbs, 
Richard  Lee,  Benedict  Middleton,  Will  o  why  Newton,  Robert  Mid- 
dleton, George  Lee,  John  Newton,  Samuel  Oldham,  Robert  Carter, 
Fleet  Cox,  James  Steptoe.  Those  chosen  in  1785  —  thirty  years 
after  —  were  Vincent  Marmaduke,  Jeremiah  Gr.  Bailey,  John  A. 
Washington,  Samuel  Rust,  John  Crabb,  Richard  Lee,  George  Gar- 
ner, George  Turberville,  Patrick  Sanford,  John  Rochester,  Samuel 
Templeman. 

CONTEST   ABOUT  Y.EOCOMICO   CHURCH. 

During  the  ministry  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ward  in  Cople  parish,  a 
difficulty  arose  as  to  this  church,  and  the  question  was  carried 
before  the  Legislature.  The  following  letter  from  Judge  MeComas 
shows  his  opinion  on  the  subject.  The  action  of  the  Legislature 
was  in  favour  of  the  claim  of  the  Episcopal  Church  :  — 


,  January  20,  1844. 

"  To  THE  KEY.  WM.  N.  WAKD. 

"  DEAE  Sra  :  —  Ton  will  remember  that  1  objected  sitting  as  a  member 
of  the  Committee  for  Courts  of  Justice,  whilst  it  was  acting  upon  the 
petition  in  relation  to  Yeocomico  Church,  because  I  was  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  understanding  that  it  was  the  subject 
of  dispute  between  that  Church  and  the  Episcopal  Church  ;  but  at  youi 
instance  I  did  sit,  but,  being  chairman  of  the  committee,  its  action  made 
it  unnecessary  for  me  to  vote.  I  take  this  mode,  however,  of  saying  that 
I  perfectly  agreed  with  the  committee,  and  even  desired  to  go  further 
than  the  committee  in  this.  I  wished  to  pass  a  law  giving  to  the  Epis- 
copal Church  all  churches  that  it  is  now  in  possession  of,  to  which  it  had  a 
right  before  the  Revolutionary  War.  I  think  the  construction  given  by 
the  committee  to  the  Act  of  1802,  or  at  least  my  construction  of  it,  is,  that 
the  General  Assembly  claimed  for  the  Commonwealth  the  right  to  all  the 
real  property  held  by  that  Church,  but  that  Act  expressly  forbids  the  sale 
of  the  churches,  &c.  It  is  true,  the  proviso  to  that  Act  does  not  confer 
upon  the  churches  the  right  of  property  in  the  houses,  &e.  But  it  in- 
tended to  leave  the  possession  and  occupancy  as  it  then  existed;  and,  that 
possession  and  occupancy  being  in  the  Episcopal  Church,  it  had  a  right  to 
retain  it  until  the  Legislature  should  otherwise  direct.  I  believe  that  the 
Committee  was  of  the  opinion  that  the  Episcopal  Church  Lad  a  right  to 
the  use  and  occupancy  of  the  church  now  in  question  :  it  certainly  is  my 


154  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

opinion.  I  hope  my  Methodist  brethren  will  see  the  justness  of  the  de- 
termination of  the  Committee,  and  with  cheerfulness  acquiesce  in  its 
decision. 

"Tours  very  respectfully, 

"DAVID   McCOMAS." 

The  following  letter  from  Mr.  W.  L.  Rogers,  of  Princeton,  New 
Jersey,  will  form  an  interesting  supplement  to  what  has  been  said 
about  Old  Yeocomico : — 

"To  THE  RIGHT  KEY.  BISHOP  MEADE. 

"  HONOURED  SIR: — The  Rev.  Win.  Hanson,  rector  of  Trinity  Church 
in  this  place,  a  few  days  since  handed  me  a  number  of  the  l  Southern 
Churchman'  from  Alexandria,  dated  the  27th  of  February,  1857.  In  it 
Is  an  historical  sketch,,  from  your  pen,  of  Cople  parish,  Westmoreland 
county,  Virginia,  and  particularly  of  Yeocomico  Church, — a  spot  ever 
near  and  dear  to  my  memory.  From  a  long  and  intimate  acquaintance 
with  its  locality  and  history,  I  beg  leave  very  respectfully  to  present  the 
following  facts.  It  was  built  in  the  year  1706,  as  an  unmistakable  record 
will  show, — it  being  engraved  in  the  solid  wall  over  the  front-door.  It 
was  called  by  that  name  after  the  adjacent  river, — the  Indian  name  being 
preserved.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Elliot  was  the  last  settled  minister  up  to  the 
year  1800,  when  he  removed  to  Kentucky.  From  that  time  it  was  wholly 
unused  and  neglected  as  a  place  of  worship  until  the  Methodists  occasion- 
ally met  under  the  shadow  of  its  ruin  about  the  year  1814,  and  continued 
so  to  do,  keeping  alive  the  spark  of  vital  piety,  until  the  Rev.  Mr.  Nelson 
in  1834  took  charge  of  it  as  a  settled  minister.  During  his  ministration 
it  was  jointly  used  by  the  Episcopalians  and  Methodists  in  Christian  bar 
inony  and  good- will.  He  being  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ward  in  1842, 
the  question  of  occupancy  and  right  of  possession  was  unhappily  agitated, 
which  led  to  a  decision  of  the  Legislature  giving  to  the  wardens  and  vestry 
of  the  Episcopal  Church  the  exclusive  right  to  its  use  and  control.  Thus 
it  will  be  seen,  for  thirty-four  years  there  had  been  no  settled  minister  of 
our  communion,  or  its  sublime  and  beautiful  service  performed,  except 
two  or  three  times  by  occasional  visits. 

"The  Mr.  Murphy  you  allude  to  was  a  Scotch  gentleman  from  Ayrshire, 
living  at  Ayrfield,  half  a  mile  distant  from  Old  Yeocomico,  whose  estate, 
consisting  of  some  thousands  of  acres,  surrounded  the  church  and  burial- 
ground  on  all  sides.  He  was  a  gentleman  of  intellectual  culture,  an 
honoured  magistrate,  and  a  Presbyterian  of  the  'Covenant'  school;  whose 
residence  was  the  seat  of  hospitality  and  the  home  of  the  clergy,  with  a 
welcome  to  all  'who  proclaimed  the  glad  tidings,  that  published  salvation, 
ihat  saith  unto  Zion,  Thy  God  reigneth/  The  Mr.  Rogers  you  kindly 
allude  to  is  the  unworthy  writer  of  these  lines  and  the  following  narrative. 
I  am  a  citizen  of  New  Jersey  by  birth  and  education,  (not  of  New  York, 
as  you  incidentally  state.)  In  the  spring  of  1813, 1  joined  the  36th 
Regiment  of  United  States  Infantry  (Colonel  Carberry)  at  Washington. 
In  the  fall  of  that  year,  I  was  detached  by  order  of  General  Bloomfield  to 
Sandy  Point,  Westmoreland  county,  Virginia,  on  the  Potomac,  with  a 
company  of  men  to  watch  the  movements  of  the  British  fleet.  In  the 
spring  of  1814,  our  quarters  becoming  uncomfortable,  we  sought  out  an 
encampment  in  what  is  called  there  the  Forest  or  high  ground.  Among 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  155 

other  places  recommended  to  us  by  the  late  General  Alexander  Parker 
we  visited  the  ruins  of  Yeocomico  Church.  As  soon  as  I  saw  it,  I  ex- 
claimed, * There  is  Kirk-Alloway/  (alluding  of  course  to  Burns's  'Tarn 
O'Shanter.')  Had  it  stood  for  the  original  picture  as  drawn  by  the 
humorous  poet,  it  could  not  have  more  forcibly  impressed  me  with  awe 
and  deep-abiding  interest.  Its  form, — that  of  a  cross, — its  solitude,  were 
strikingly  impressive,  for  it  stood  in  a  dell  where  its  silence  was  only  dis- 
turbed by  the  passing  breeze  whispering  through  the  pines  and  cedars  and 
undergrowth  which  choked  up  the  entrance.  It  was  overshadowed  also 
by  ancient  oaks  stretching  their  gigantic  arms,  as  it  were,  to  guard  the 
sacred  relic  from  mouldering  time  and  the  desolating  elements.  Its  doors 
were  open,  its  windows  broken,  the  roof  partly  decayed  and  fallen  in,  and, 
k>  complete  its  apparent  hopeless  fate,  a  pine-tree  thirty  or  forty  feet 
nigh  was  blown  up  by  the  roots  and  lay  across  the  main  structure.  Its 
burial-ground,  which  is  spacious,  was  enclosed  by  a  costly,  high  brick  wall, 
with  narrow  gateways, — symbolical  perhaps  of  the  { narrow  path/ — filled 
to  its  utmost  capacity  with  broken  tombstones  and  desolate  graves  over- 
grown with  briers  and  shrubbery,  showing  that  the  i  rich  and  the  poor 
there  rested  together,  and  the  servant  was  indeed  free  from  his  master/ — 
alike  unprotected  and  uncared-for.  A  ruin  outside  the  wall,  which  was 
intended  and  once  served  as  a  vestry,  had  rotted  down ;  the  chimney,  a 
strong  brick  one,  alone  standing, — a  naked  monument  of  better  days.  In  an 
alcove  of  forest-trees  a  few  yards  distant  flowed  numerous  springs  of  cool, 
delicious  water.  Indeed,  it  required  no  great  stretch  of  imagination  to 
fancy  the  midnight-scene  so  graphically  described  in  Burns's  Kirk- Alloway, 
and  the  race  to  cross  the  running  stream  (for  one  really  flows  across  the 
main  road,  some  hundred  yards  distant)  where  i  mare  Meggie  lost  her 
tail/  With  some  difficulty  I  entered  the  porch,  which  was  built  of  brick 
and  formed  the  upper  part  of  the  cross,  spacious  and  on  a  level  with  the 
ground, — its  massive  double  doorway  quite  open,  presenting  within  as 
hopeless  a  ruin  as  its  exterior,— the  roof  rotted  away  at  its  angles,  one 
of  the  galleries  partly  down,  the  girders  rotted  off  and  fallen  upon  the 
pews,  and  the  wall  in  two  places  mouldered  away  by  years  of  satura- 
tion from  snow  and  rain  The  remains  of  a  large  Bible  still  lay  upon 
the  desk.  The  font  was  gone, — which  I  was  told  was  of  marble,  and  now 
used  for  convivial  purposes.  The  chancel,  in  the  eastern  arm  of  the 
cross,  to  the  right  of  the  pulpit,  surmounted  by  a  large  Gothic  window 
much  broken,  was  still  in  tolerable  preservation.  In  it  was  the  Communion- 
table,— its  frame  antique,  covered  with  a  heavy  walnut  slab, — sound,  but 
rough  and  soiled  from  exposure.  Large  frames,  once  covered  with  canvas 
exhibiting  in  distinct  characters  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the  Ten  Command- 
ments, and  other  texts  of  Scripture,  hung  upon  the  walls,  now  much 
defaced,  mouldered,  and  torn.  The  aisles  were  paved  with  brick,  and 
covered  with  abundant  evidence  of  its  being  the  resort  of  sheep  and 
cattle  running  at  large ;  and,  to  complete  the  evidence  of  its  abandonment, 
the  ceiling — which  was  of  boards — was  tenanted  by  squirrels,  snakes,  and 
scorpions.  Indeed,  we  may  truly  say,  £  All  its  hedges  were  broken  down 
by  the  wUd  boar  of  the  wilderness/  and  there  was  no  one  to  care  for  it 
Besides,  I  was  told,  it  was  the  terror  of  the  neighbourhood,  from  being 
the  resort  of  runaway  negroes  and  wandering  vagrants,  added  to  the  awe 
inseparably  connected  with  the  lonely,  silent  depository  of  the  dead.  la 
contemplating  the  scene  before  me,  I  felt  a  mysterious  attachment  to  this 
relic  of  piety  and  early  faith  of  our  fathers, — not  dreaming  (being  a 


156  OLD    CHURCHES,  MINISTERS, 

stranger  and  a  wanderer)  at  some  future  day  I  should  be  honoured  and 
favoured  by  the  commission  to  restore  this  temple,  now  in  the  dust,  to  the 
service  of  my  Creator  and  Redeemer.  We  resolved  at  once  to  pitch  our 
tents  outside  the  wall :  a  fatigue-party  was  detailed  to  trim  up  the  trees, 
cut  down  the  undergrowth,  and  buro  up  the  leaves  and  rubbish,  to  re- 
move the  tree  which  lay  across  the  roof,  to  cleanse  the  church  and  repair 
it  as  far  as  practicable,  to  make  it  a  safe  depository  for  our  stores  and 
camp-equipage.  This  being  done,  we  were  presented  with  a  shady  grove, 
dry  ground,  and  a  most  inviting  and  lovely  prospect, — with  an  abundance 
of  pure,  delicious  water  at  our  feet,  and  a  central  position  to  make  nightly 
detachments  to  guard  the  historic  shores  of  old  Potomac, — for  there  rest 
the  remains  of  the  Washingtons,  the  Lees,  the  Parkers,  and  many  other 
gallant  spirits  of  patriotic  memory*  As  illustrative  of  the  actual  condition 
of  the  spot  I  am  now  describing,  permit  me  to  relate  an  original  anecdote, 
which  occurred  a  short  time  before  my  visit. 

"  Colonel  Garner,  an  officer  of  the  Revolution,  lived  three  or  four  miles 
distant:  passing  the  church  late  in  the  evening  with  a  friend,  they  were 
overtaken  by  an  angry  cloud  of  wind  and  rain,  accompanied  by  lightning 
and  thunder.  The  colonel  proposed  taking  shelter  in  the  church,  leading 
their  horses  in,  which  they  could  do  without  difficulty,  as  the  porch  and 
pavement  of  the  aisles  were  on  a  level  with  the  ground.  To  this  his  friend 
positively  objected,  declaring  he  would  rather  bear  the  pelting  of  the  storm 
than  pass  an  hour  within  its  gloomy  walls.  He  therefore  put  spurs  to  his 
horse  for  his  home.  Not  so  with  the  colonel :  he  was  a  brave  man,  not 
fearing  hobgoblins  or  witches.  He  dismounted  at  the  opening  in  the  wall, 
where  there  had  once  been  a  gate.  Taking  the  bridle-rein  in  his  hand,  he 
proceeded  to  thread  his  way  through  the  bushes  to  the  porch.  He  got 
inside,  followed  by  his  horse,  and  was  just  entering  the  church,  when  the 
unusual  visit  frightened  a  flock  of  sheep  that  had  taken  shelter  there,  who 
suddenly  rushed  to  the  door  to  make  their  escape.  The  charge  took  the 
colonel  by  surprise,  knocked  him  down,  routed  his  horse,  and  trampled 
him.  in  the  dust,  (for  it  was  not  paved  as  it  now  is.)  .  After  the  column 
had  passed  over  him,  he  found  in  the  tfrne1eV  he  had  lost  his  hat,  and  was 
scratched  and  bruised  about  the  face  and  hanas.  Nothing  daunted,  how- 
ever, he  groped  his  way  into  the  church,  and,  being  well  acquainted  with 
its  internal  arrangement,  he  took  shelter  in  the  pulpit,  where  he  knew  was 
a  comfortable  seat,  and  where  he  would  be  protected  from  the  wet  by  the 
sounding-board,  made  of  durable  materials  and  still  firmly  attached  to  the 
wall.  The  storm  was  now  raging  without,  lightning  and  thundering  and 
raining,  with  a  tempest  of  wind.  After  sitting  for  a  time  he  fell  asleep 
and  did  not  awake  until  three  or  four  in  the  morning.  By  this  time  the 
cloud  had  passed  over,  the  stars  were  shining,  and  he  was  glad  to  extricate 
himself  by  a  hasty  retreat  homeward.  He  found  his  discomfited  horse 
taking  his  rest  at  the  stable-door. 

"  Our  happiness  at  this  encampment,  after  some  months,  was  unexpectedly 
broken  up  by  the  arrival  of  a  vessel  with  an  order  to  embark  for  St.  Mary's, 
Maryland.  We  finished  our  military  service  by  assisting  in  the  defence  of 
Fort  McHenry,  Baltimore.  We  had  the  satisfaction,  however,  of  carrying 
with  us  the  united  testimony  of  the  whole  neighbourhood  that  not  a  chicken, 
an  egg,  or  a  vegetable,  had  been  wrongfully  taken  by  any  one  of  the  soldiers, 
nor  an  injury  or  an  insult  offered  to  any  one.  The  church  and  its  environs 
had  been  sacredly  guarded,  and  we  left  it  in  a  much  better  condition  than  we 
found  it.  But  it  was  not  so  (as  I  afterward  learned)  by  our  successors,  a 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  151 

O)mpany  of  militk  from  the  upper  country,  who  proved  themselves  to  be  a 
scourge  to  those  they  professedly  came  to  protect,  by  robbery,  violence,  and 
destruction  of  private  property.  It  was  they  <  who  made  a  (shopping-block  of 
the  Communion-table'  and  otherwise  defaced  the  church.  In  ascribing  it  to 
the  soldiers,  be  assured,  sir,  you  have  been  led  into  an  unintentional  error. 
They  served  under  a  discipline  paternal  but  strict,  both  as  regards  order 
and  cleanliness.  In  the  year  1820,  being  on  a  visit  to  Ayrfield,"and  seeing 
Old  Yeocomico  still  a  ruin,  even  more  deplorable  than  when  I  left  it,  I 
proposed  to  Mr.  Murphy  to  undertake  its  repair.  To  this  he  not  only 
assented,  but  gave  money,  labour,  and  his  personal  service.  The  gentle- 
men of  the  neighbourhood  subscribed  cheerfully  and  liberally,  and  the 
work  was  pushed  forward  by  employing  suitable  mechanics  and  importing 
from  Alexandria  lumber,  shingles,  paints,  and  seven  or  eight  barrels  of 
tar  for  the  roof,  which  had  not  had  a  shingle  put  upon  it  since  the  year 
1788,  at  which  time,  I  heard  Mr.  Murphy  say,  the  gentlemen  of  the  sur- 
rounding estates  were  assessed  to  meet  the  expense.  It  is  true  as  you 
state, — the  font,  '  a  beautiful  marble  one/  as  you  describe  it,  had  been 
taken  away  and  used  for  unholy  purposes,  and  by  him  restored;  also,  the 
plate,  with  a  damask  tablecloth  and  napkins  marked  l  Yeocomico  Church' 
in  the  centre,  had  been  safely  kept  at  Lee  Hall,  and  were  gladly  restored 
by  the  pious  and  excellent  lady,  the  late  Mrs.  Sarah  Newton,  who  at  that 
time  owned  and  occupied  the  mansion  and  estate.  The  first  thing  we  did 
was  to  open  a  double  gateway  in  front,  with  a  wide  gravel-walk  up  to  the 
porch  or  apex  of  the  cross,  the  pavement  of  which  I  laid  with  my  own 
hands,  none  there  being  familiar  with  such  work.  If  the  narrow  opening 
in  the  wall  was  symbolical  of  the  ' narrow  path/  the  one  we  now  opened 
was  illustrative  of  *free  grace/ — &  truth  to  which  I  feel  myself  indebted 
for  a  knowledge  of  salvation  through  the  interceding  blood  of  a  crucified 
Kedeemer.  It  is  also  true,  as  you  state,  I  presented  the  church  with  a 
large  stove  and  ample  pipe  to  warm  it  thoroughly,  it  having  stood  for  upward 
of  a  century  without  one.  It  is  also  true  I  had  the  great  pleasure  to  place 
a  Bible  and  Prayer-Book  both  on  the  desk  and  in  the  pulpit,  and  I  rejoice 
to  know  the  church  is  still  protected  and  cared  for, — although  I  have  not 
seen  it  for  more  than  twenty  years.  Permit  me  now,  sir,  in  conclusion,  to 
say  I  have  frequently  reflected  with  sorrow  on  the  mysterious  desolation 
of  the  ancient  churches  of  Virginia,  and  can  only  account  for  it  by  the 
demoniac  influence  of  the  infidel  theories  and  sentiments  of  the  French. 
Revolution,  which  at  that  time  pervaded  the  public  mind  and  had  poisoned 
the  very  fountain  of  our  better  nature  and  sealed  the  best  impulses  of  the 
human  heart.  These  temples  of  the  living  Gtod,  these  sacred  monuments 
of  the  faith  of  our  fathers  and  the  religious  care  of  the  Provincial  Govern- 
ment, were  generally  of  lofty  and  commanding  structure,  of  costly  finish, 
and  of  the  most  durable  materials, — such  as  in  England  have  lasted  for 
centuries.  They  stood  in  well-chosen  positions,  and  tinder  their  shadow 
lay  the  remains  of  the  kindred  of  large  congregations,  many  of  whom  were 
the  immediate  descendants  of  holy  men  who  had  ministered  at  their  altars; 
yet,  most  strange  to  say,  not  an  arm  was  put  forth  to  save,  or  an  eye  found 
to  pity.  *  Behold,  therefore,  saith  the  Lord,  your  house  is  left  unto  you 
desolate/ 

"  Be  pleased  to  accept,  reverend  sir,  my  most  respectful  regard, 

«WM.  L.  ROGERS. 

"  PRINCETON,  NEW  JERSEY,  March  20,  1857." 


158  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 


ARTICLE  LXL 
Washington  Parish^  Westmoreland. 

THIS  name  was  doubtless  given  to  it  at  an  early  period,  and  after 
the  first  of  the  Washingtons ;  though  we  see  nothing  of  its  first 
establishment  in  the  Acts  of  Assembly.  The  Bishop  of  London 
sends  a  circular  to  its  minister  in  1723.  The  Rev.  Laurence  De 
Butts  was  its  minister  in  that  year,  and  had  been  for  the  three  pre- 
ceding years.  The  parish  was  thirty  miles  long  and  five  wide, 
extending  only  half-way  across  the  Neck  at  that  time.  There 
were  two  churches  in  it.  He  administered  the  Communion  three 
times  a  year,  and  two  quarts  of  wine  had  been  used  at  one  time. 
Mr.  De  Butts  preached  also,  during  the  week,  at  St.  Stephen's 
Church,  Northumberland  county,  at  Farnham  Church,  Richmond 
county,  and  in  Cople  parish,  they  all  being  vacant  at  that  time. 
The  glebe  of  four  hundred  and  fifty  acres  was  bequeathed  to  the 
parish  for  the  better  maintenance  of  a  minister  and  schoolmaster, 
and  the  vestry  gave  it  entirely  to  him  on  condition  that  he  would 
provide  one  to  teach  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic,  which  he  had 
done.  What  has  become  of  this  glebe  we  know  not.  We  find  in 
the  old  county  records  the  name  of  another  minister  in  Westmore- 
land, about  this  same  time, — the  Rev.  Walter  Jones.  He  may  have 
ministered  in  some  other  parish,  or  been  a  private  teacher,  and  been 
merely  summoned  as  a  witness.  We  have  no  record  of  any  minis- 
ter in  Washington  parish  after  this  until  the  year  1754,  when  the 
Rev.  Archibald  Campbell  appears  on  one  of  our  lists. 

Of  him  and  his  family  I  have  something  special  to  say.  Our 
lists  of  clergy  show  him  to  have  been  the  minister  of  Washington 
parish  from  the  year  1754  to  1774, — a  period  of  twenty  years* 
During  most  of  that  time  Round  Hill  Church  (afterward  in  Hano- 
ver parish,  King  George  county,  by  a  change  of  the  boundary-line 
in  the  two  counties)  was  connected  with  Pope's  Creek  Church,  in 
Washington  parish,  and  Mr.  Campbell  was  minister  of  those 
churches.  I  have  something  to  say  about  the  former  of  these 
churches  which  has  a  bearing  on  the  date  of  Mr.  Campbell's  minis- 
try aad  first  coming  to  this  country. 

In  my  report,  in  the  year  1838,  of  a  visit  to  this  region  in  the 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  159 

preceding  year,  I  thus  speak : — "  In  passing  from  Westmoreland  to 
King  George  county,  where  my  next  appointment  -was  made,  the 
traveller  may  see,  immediately  on  the  roadside,  the  last  vestiges  of 
an  old  church  called  6  Round  Hill  Church.'  A  few  broken  bricks 
and  a  little  elevation  made  by  the  mouldered  ruins  are  all  now  left 
to  say,  Here  once  stood  a  church  of  the  living  God." 

Within  the  last  few  months  I  spent  a  night  at  the  hospitable 
house  of  Colonel  Baber,  near  whose  outer  gate  the  old  church 
stood.  On  learning  that  there  was  an  old  tombstone  still  to  be 
seen  among  the  ruins,  I  determined  to  search  for  it.  In  the  morn- 
ing, on  our  way  to  St.  Paul's  Church,  Colonel  Baber's  son,  Rev.  Mr. 
Dashiel,  and  myself,  dismounted  and  made  our  way  to  the  spot 
through  the  thick  pines  and  cedars  with  which  it  was  overgrown. 
After  considerable  search  we  discovered  the  end  of  a  large  tomb- 
stone, the  greater  portion  of  which  was  covered  over  with  the  roots 
of  trees,  moss  and  leaves.  After  clearing  away  the  two  latter,  we 
made  out  the  inscription,  as  follows: — "Here  lies  Rebecca,  the  wife 
of  the  Rev.  Archibald  Campbell,  minister  of  Washington  parish, 
who  died  the  21st  of  March,  1754."  "Here  also  lies  Alexander^ 
their  child."  Now,  as  it  is  well  known  that  he  had  another  son 
by  the  name  of  Alexander,  an  eminent  lawyer  of  Virginia,  the  one 
buried  beneath  or  near  this  stone  may  have  been  born  and  died 
some  years  before  this,  and  so  Mr.  Campbell's  ministry  be  carried 
back  a  number  of  years  before  1754,  his  second  son  Alexander 
being  born  before  that  time.  If  this  be  so,  and  it  be  also  true 
that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Campbell  kept  a  school  in  Westmoreland, — as  tra- 
dition says,  and  of  which  there  is  no  doubt, — it  may  also  be  true, 
as  tradition  further  reports,  that  General  Washington  and  Thomas 
Marshall,  father  of  the  Chief-Justice,  and  perhaps  Colonel  Monroe 
and  Mr.  Madison,  all  of  whom  were  born  in  this  region,  may  at  one 
time  have  been  scholars  of  Mr.  Campbell.  General  Washington 
was  born  in  1732,  and  until  his  sixteenth  year  was  much  in  West- 
moreland. It  is  only  necessary  that  Mr*  Campbell's  ministry  and 
school  should  have  commenced  five  or  six  years  before  the  death 
of  his  wife,  to  render  this  a  probable  thing.  I  introduce  the  report 
in  order  to  elicit  either  confirmation  or  rejection.  Of  the  history 
of  this  branch  of  the  Campbells  of  Virginia  I  have  obtained  the 
following  statement.  Two  brothers,  Archibald  and  Alexander, 
emigrated  to  Virginia  some  time  before  the  war.  Archibald  settled 
as  a  clergyman  in  Westmoreland,  and  Alexander  as  a  merchant  in 
Falmouth.  At  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  Archibald  took  part 
with  the  Americans,  with  the  Washingtons  and  Lees,  his  parish- 


160  OLD   CHUIICHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

toners,  while  Alexander  preferred  the  British  side  of  the  question, 
and  returned  to  Scotland.  The  youngest  son  of  Alexander  was 
born  in  Glasgow,  in  1777,* 


*  This  youngest  son  was  none  other  than  the  celebrated  poet  Thomas  Campbek 

In  a  letter  from  a  friend  who  is  much  interested  and  deeply  versed  in  such  mat- 
ters, there  is  the  following  passage: — "Of  the  Campbells  I  can  say  nothing  more 
than  you  have  related  at  this  moment,  except  perhaps  that  lawyer  Campbell  was 
a  most  eloquent  man,  and  that  Campbell,  a  brother  of  the  poet,  married  a  daughter 
of  Patrick  Henry.  This  I  will  inquire  into.  As  Patrick  Henry  himself  was  de- 
scended on  the  mother's  side  from  the  stock  of  Robertson  the  historian,  and  is  in 
that  way  a  relative  of  Lord  Brougham,  so  his  descendants  are  connected  with  the 
poet  Campbell,  thus  showing  a  connection  between  our  great  orator  and  one  of  the 
greatest  politicians  and  one  of  the  sweetest  poets  of  the  age.7' 

The  following  extract  from  a  letter  of  one  of  Mr.  Campbell's  grandsons  throws 
additional  light  on  the  history  of  the  family: — «*I  will  now  give  you  some  facts 
that  I  have  been  able  to  gather  in  reference  to  him  and  his  descendants.  Parson 
Campbell  came  to  Virginia  previous  to  the  year  1730.  He  resided  at  the  glebe 
near  Johnsville,  in  what  was  then  Westmoreland  but  now  King  George  county. 
He  preached  at  Round  Hill  Church,  and  probably  at  Pope's  Qreek  Church.  A  road 
leading  a  part  of  the  way  from  the  glebe  to  Round  Hill  Church  still  goes  by  the 
name  of  the  Parson's  Road*  It  was  said  to  have  been  cut  through  the  forest  for 
Parson  Campbell's  use.  Parson  CampbeE  was  twice  married.  His  first  wife  died 
soon  after  her  marriage.  His  second  wife  was  a  sister  of  the  Rev.  William  Stuart, 
of  King  George  County  By  this  marriage  there  were  three  sons, — Archibald, 
Alexander,  and  John :  the  two  last-mentioned  were  distinguished  lawyers.  Archi- 
bald, my  grandfather,  left  a  daughter  and  two  sons.  Frederick,  the  elder  son,  was 
a  lawyer.  He  inherited  an  entailed  estate  in  Scotland,  and  died  in  Europe.  Ferdi- 
nand, the  second  son,  was  formerly  Professor  of  Mathematics  in  William  and  Mary 
College,  and  died  near  Philadelphia.  Alexander  was  twice  married,  and  left  two 
daughters,  one  of  whom  died  unmarried :  the  other  is  the  wife  of  Judge  Wayne, 
of  the  Supreme  Court.  John  was  also  married  twice,  and  left  several  children. 
Parson  Campbell  was  from  Scotland.  He  was  related  to  the  Stuart  and  Argyle 
families  of  that  country,  and  was  the  uncle  of  Thomas  Campbell  the  poet.  In 
addition  to  the  performance  of  Ms  ministerial  duties,  he  also  taught  a  school.  It  is 
said  that  he  had  among  his  pupils  Madison,  Monroe,  and  Chief-Justice  Marshall. 
The  Rev.  William  Stuart  studied  theology  under  his  direction.  Parson  Campbell 
died  leaving  a  considerable  estate." 

The  following  letter,  having  been  received  since  the  foregoing  was  published  in 
the  u  Southern  Churchman,"  corrects  some  inaccuracies  and  furnishes  additional 
information 

"  BISHOP  MEADE,  "NEWSTEAD,  March  20,  1857. 

"  REV.  AND  DEAB.  Sia: — In  perusing  the  brief  sketch  given  by  you  of  the  Camp- 
*>ells  of  Virginia,  my  mother  discovered  some  inaccuracies,  which  it  gives  us  plea- 
sure to  correct  as  far  as  we  can  do  so.  She  says  that  her  grandfather  (Archibald 
Campbell)  married  twice.  Of  the  history  of  Ms  first  wife,  whose  name  you  saw  on 
the  tombstone  at  the  Round  Hill  Church  in  King  George,  she  knows  very  little,  as  she 
survived  but  a  very  short  time  after  marriage,  leaving  no  descendants.  The  second 
wife,  who  was  her  grandmother,  was  a  Miss  McCoy,  daughter  of  William  McCoy,  who 
was  the  pastor  of  North  Farnham  parish,  Richmond  county,  in  the  year  1754,  but 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  161 

The  sons  of  Archibald  were  Archibald,  Alexander,  and  John. 
Archibald  inherited  the  property  of  his  father  in  Westmoreland, 
consisting  of  two  seats,  the  one  called  Pomona,  the  other  Camp- 
bellton,  at  the  last  of  which  the  father  lived  and  kept  his  school. 
It  is  now  the  summer  residence  of  Mr.  Laurence  Washington.  The 
other  sons,  Alexander  and  John,  were  eminent  lawyers.  Alexander 
married  a  Miss  Fitzhugh,  of  King  Greorge,  who  at  his  death  married 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Kollock,  minister  of  churches  in  Princeton,  New  York, 
Charleston,  (South  Carolina,)  and  lastly  in  Savannah.  An  only 
daughter,  by  her  first  husband,  married  Judge  Wayne,  of  the  Su- 
preme Court.  The  last  son,  John,  was  a  lawyer  in  Westmoreland, 
and  represented  the  county  in  the  Legislature,  and  the  parish  in 
one  of  our  Conventions.  His  daughters  were  Eliza,  who  married 
Mr.  Leland ;  Emily,  who  married  Robert  Mayo  ;  Sarah,  who  mar- 
ried Landon  Berkeley;'  Louisa,  who  married  John  Mayo;  and 
Octavia. 

After  the  disappearance  of  Mr.  Campbell  from  any  of  our  re- 

•whose  name  you  incorrectly  spell,  in  your  article  on  that  parish,  McKay.  This  William 
McCoy  married  a  Miss  Fitzhugh,  of  Marmion,  King  G-eorge, — a  woman  distinguished 
for  her  eminent  piety, — and  our  grandmother  -was  a  daughter  by  that  marriage.  The 
school  which  you  speak  of  was  established  after  his  last  marriage,  for  the  benefit  of 
his  own  sons,  Archibald  and  Alexander.  My  grandfather,  who  was  John,  being  an 
infant  at  the  period  of  his  death,  was  baptized  by  him  on  his  death-bed.  My  mother 
thinks  she  has  heard  that  Chief-Justice  Marshall,  Mr.  Madison,  and  Mr.  Monroe, 
were  taught  by  him,  with  her  uncles  Archibald  and  Alexander.  She  does  not  think 
that  the  school  was  established  early  enough  to  admit  the  belief  of  Colonel  Marshall 
or  General  Washington's  having  been  pupils  of  his.  To  the  property  acquired  by 
my  mother's  grandfather  in  Virginia,  he  gave  the  name  of  Kirnan,  after  a  family 
seat  in  Argyllshire,  Scotland.  Campbellton  was  the  residence  of  my  grandfather. 
Alexander  married  his  cousin,  Miss  Eitzhugh,  of  Marmion,  and  had  only  one  daughter 
by  that  marriage,  whose  name  was  Lucy :  she  lived  in  my  grandfather's  family  until 
the  period  of  her  death,  which  occurred  within  a  few  years  past  Mrs.  Wayne 
was  by  a  second  marriage.  The  other  brother,  Archibald,  married  Miss  Hughs,  of 
Maryland,  and  had  two  sons  and  a  daughter.  The  eldest  son,  Frederick,  inherited 
a  large  entailed  estate  in  the  island  of  Bute,  in  Scotland,  from  the  Stuarts,  who 
intermarried  with  the  Campbells,  and  he  took  the  name  of  Frederick  Campbell 
Stuart  with  the  estate*  The  second  son,  Ferdinand,  was  Professor  of  Mathematics 
in  William  and  Mary,  under  the  administration  of  Drs.  Smith  and  Wilmer.  The 
daughter,  Anna  Campbell,  married  Dr.  Tennant*  an  eminent  physician  of  Port 
Eoyal:  she  died  not  many  years  since.  Her  children,  were  Washington,  who  was  a 
physician ;  Mercer,  who  married  Miss  Grymes,  of  K™%  George ;  Susan,  the  first 
wife  of  Dr.  John  May,  of  Westmoreland;  Maria,  who  married  Thomas  Hunter,  of 
Fredericksburg ;  and  Lucy,  who  married  his  brother,  Taliafero  Hunter.  Mrs. 
Tennant  lived  and  died  a  very  consistent  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and 
her  children  are  all  members  of  it.  We  give  this  information  in  compliance  with 
your  request  that  mistakes  might  be  corrected. 

"Tours  very  respectfully,  EUZA  C.  LKLAKD." 

VOL.  IL— 11 


162  OLD   CHUBCHES,   MINISTERS, 

cords,  we  have  no  account  of  any  minister  in  Washington  parish 
until  the  year  1785,  when  the  Rev.  Francis  Wilson  serves  it  for 
one  year.  In  the  year  1796,  the  Eev.  John  O'Donnell  appears 
once  in  a  Convention.  We  have  none  after  this  until  the  year 
1822,  when  the  Rev.  Josiah  Clapham  appears  in  Convention,  with 
Mr.  John  Campbell,  son  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Campbell,  as  lay  delegate. 
Mr.  Clapham  continued  its  minister  for  some  years,  performing 
his  duties  piously  and  faithfully,  and  with  as  much  energy  as  his 
bodily  infirmities  would  allow  of.  After  a  considerable  interval,  we 
find  the  parish  again  supplied  by  the  services  of  the  Rev.  William 
McGuire,  who  served  it  in  connection  with  Cople  parish.  Within  a 
few  years  past,  a  new  parish  has  been  taken  from  Washington  parish, 
by  the  name  of  Montross,  in  which  a  new  church  has  been  built, 
while  another,  by  the  name  of  St.  Peter's,  has  been  built  at  Oak 
Grove.  We  are  much  indebted  to  the  labours  of  the  Rev.  William 
McG-uire  for  both  these  new  churches.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Tuttle  was 
the  minister  of  Washington  parish  for  one  year,  since  which  time 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Chesley  has  been  settled  there. 

THE  OLD  CHURCHES  IN  WESTMORELAND. 

There  were  three  of  these, — the  Round  Hill  Church,  Pope's 
Creek  Church,  and  one  at  Leeds,  on  the  Rappahannock.  Pope's 
Creek  Church  lay  immediately  on  the  road  from  Westmoreland 
Court-House  to  King  George.  The  following  notice  of  it  is  taken 
from  my  report  to  the  Convention  of  1838  : — 

"  It  was  near  to  this  church  that  General  Washington  was  born.  It 
was  in  this  tbat  he  was  baptized.  Here  it  was  that  he  received  those 
sarly  impressions  of  religion  which,  instead  of  being  effaced  by  age,  seemed 
to  grow  with  his  growth  and  strengthen  with  his  strength.  The  proof? 
of  this  have  been  abundantly  furnished  in  the  i  Religious  Opinions  and  Cha* 
racter  of  Washington/  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  McGuire,  a  work  recently  published, 
and  for  which  the  writer  deserves  the  thanks  of  every  friend  of  Washing, 
ton,  of  religion,  and  of  onr  country.  I  have  said  that  this  church  is  now 
in  ruins,  and  I  would  add,  that  about  twenty-six  years  ago,  [1812,]  when 
I  was  in  Deacon's  Orders,  I  remember  to  have  been  in  it,  with  the  Rev 
Mr.  Norris,  an  early  and  beloved  associate  in  the  ministry,  at  which  time 
it  was  beginning  to  decay  in  the  roof;  but  there  was  a  large  congregation, 
and  twenty-eight  children  were  brought  forward  for  baptism.  It  was  the 
first  service  which  had  been  performed  in  it  for  a  long  time,  and  from  that 
period  it  continued  to  decay,  until  a  few  years  ago  it  was  set  on  fire  in 
order  to  prevent  injury,  from  the  falling  of  the  roof,  to  the  cattle  which 
were  accustomed  to  shelter  there." 

It  ought  to  be  added  that  so  attached  were  the  citizens  of  the 


FAMILIES  OF  VIRGINIA.  163 

eounty  to  this  old  building,  that  the  excuse  for  its  destruction  bj 
fire  was  not  readily  admitted.  Indeed,  so  indignant  were  they, 
that  it  was  brought  before  the  grand  jury  and  the  court.  The 
result,  however,  was  the  acquittal  of  the  party.  It  has  now  bee? 
twenty  years  since  the  above-mentioned  visit,  and  I  have  often 
within  that  time  passed  the  same  spot,  at  each  time  perceiving  the 
disappearance  of  all  that  was  old,  and  the  rise  and  growth  of  what 
was  new.  Trees  and  shrubs  have  been  growing  up  over  and  around 
the  old  site,  rendering  it  more  difficult  each  year  to  the  passing 
traveller  to  find  out  where  Old  Pope's  Creek  Church  once  stood. 
I  should  not  myself,  in  a  recent  visit,  have  been  able  to  discover  it, 
but  for  the  aid  of  a  friend  who  was  with  me.  I  could  not  but  ask 
myself  and  that  friend  if  it  were  not  possible  that  a  simple  but  durable 
monument — say  a  pillar  a  few  feet  high — could  be  placed  on  the 
roadside,  with  the  name  of  Pope's  Creek  Church  upon  it,  to  inform 
posterity  that  on  that  spot  stood  the  church  of  the  Washingtons,  the 
Lees,  the  Paynes,  and  others.  It  is  said  that  the  Legislature  intends 
to  have  an  enclosure  around  the  birthplace  of  Washington  and  the 
burying-place  of  his  ancestors,  which  are  near  at  hand ;  and  surely 
some  individual  or  individuals  would  take  pleasure  in  marking  the 
spot  where  God  was  worshipped  by  so  many,  and  where  the  remains 
of  not  a  few  were  interred,  although  no  tombstones  have  preserved 
their  names.  Among  those  whose  bodies  were  deposited  around 
this  church  is  to  be  numbered  the  Hon.  Thomas  Lee,  (the  father  of 
Richard  Henry  Lee  and  a  noble  band  of  brothers  and  sisters,)  the 
owner  of  Stratford,  for  whom  it  was  rebuilt  by  the  Queen,  after 
being  consumed  by  fire,  who  held  the  first  offices  in  the  Colony 
under  several  Governors,  and  whose  commission  as  Governor  reached 
Virginia  in  1756,  just  after  his  death.  I  take  the  following  inscrip- 
tion from  his  tombstone,  which  I  saw  some  years  since,  lying 
against  the  wall  of  the  family  vault  at  Stratford : — 

"In  memory  of  the  Hon.  Thomas  Lee,  whose  body  was  buried  at 
Pope's  Creek  Church,  five  miles  above  his  country-seat,  Stratford  Hall, 
in  1756." 

Of  Mr.  Lee  some  account  has  been  given  in  the  sketch  of  the 
Lee  family  in  the  article  on  Northumberland  county. 

LEEDS  OR  BEAT'S  CHURCH. 

This  church  stood  on  the  Bappahannock,  at  the  outskirts  of  the 
place  called  Leeds.  It  was  of  brick.  The  ruins  of  it  are  jet  to 
be  seen,  apparently  hanging  on  the  bank  of  the  river.  It  has 


164  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

undergone  many  changes  of  late  years  since  it  was  deserted  as  a 
house  of  worship,  having  been  used  as  a  tavern,  stable  or  barn,  and 
been  altered  so  as  to  suit  the  different  purposes  to  which  it  has  been 
applied.  Leeds  was  once  a  place  of  note  in  this  part  of  Virginia. 
It  was  doubtless  named,  either  by  the  Fairfaxes  or  Washingtons, 
after  the  town  of  Leeds,  in  Yorkshire,  near  which  both  of  their 
ancestral  families  lived.  This  in  Virginia  was  a  place  of  much 
trade  in  tobacco  and  other  things.  Its  shipping  was  very  consider- 
able at  one  time,  and  it  gave  the  promise  of  being  a  town  of  no 
small  importance,  but,  like  many  other  such  places  in  Virginia,  as 
Dumfries,  Colchester,  Warren,  Warminster,  it  failed  to  fulfil  the 
expectations  excited.  For  one  thing  it  deserves  to  retain  a  lasting 
place  in  the  history  of  the  American  Revolution.  As  Boston  was 
the  Northern,  so  Leeds  may  be  called  the  Southern  cradle  of  Ame- 
rican Independence.  This  was  the  place  where,  with  Richard 
Henry  Lee  as  their  leader,  the  patriots  of  Westmoreland  mot, 
before  any  and  all  others,  to  enter  their  protest  against  the  in- 
cipient steps  of  English  usurpation.  At  this  place  did  they  resolve 
to  oppose  the  Stamp  Act,  nor  allow  any  citizen  of  Westmoreland 
to  deal  in  stamps.  This  is  a  true  part  of  the  American  history. 

ROUND   HILL   CHURCH. 

Of  this  we  have  said  something  in  our  mention  of  the  Kev.  Mr, 
Campbell.  In  the  following  communication  from  my  brother, 
Bishop  Payne,  of  Africa,  further  notice  of  it  will  be  found,  together 
with  interesting  accounts  of  his  own  family.  One  of  these  at  my 
first  visit  to  Pope's  Creek  Church  promised  one  hundred  dollars 
for  its  repairs, — a  large  sum  for  those  times, 

"In  the  summer  of  1883,  after  leaving  Williamsburg,  I  visited  a  great- 
uncle,  Captain  William  Payne,  a  venerable  old  gentleman,  (grandfather 
of  Eichard  Payne,  of  Warrenton,)  residing  near  Warrenton.  He  wa? 
dressed  in  short  pants,  had  served  in  the  Revolution,  and  was  a  fine  speci- 
men* of  the  old  Virginia  gentleman.  Finding  me  interested  in  the  history 
of  our  family,  he  took  down  from  his  library  a  copy  of  Smith's  History  of 
Virginia,  and  in  the  index  showed  me  the  names  of  our  ancestors  to  whom 
King  James  gave  patents  of  land  in  Virginia.  They  were  Sir  William 
Payne,  John  Payne,  and  Eichard  or  Thomas,  I  forget  which.  Sir  William, 
he  said,  never  came  to  America,  but  the  other  two  brothers  did.  One  of 
these  brothers,  as  I  learned  from  him,  and  his  daughter, — my  cousin, — Mrs. 
Scott,  of  Fredericksburg,  settled  in  the  country  about  Lynchburg,  and 
from  him  descended  Mrs.  Madin,  (Polly  Payne.)  The  other — John  Payne 
— settled  between  the  Potomac  and  Eappahannock,  probably  in  or  near  that 
which  was  to  be  the  great  city  Leedstown.  My  grandfather,  John 
Payne,  whom  you  saw,  I  think  died  when  I  was  six  or  seven  years  old. 


FAMILIES  OF  VIEGINIA,  165 

but  I  recollect  him  distinctly  as  dressed  in  the  old  style,  like  Uncle  Wil- 
liam. His  residence  was  at  the  old  family-stead  called,  when  I  knew  it, 
the  Eed  House.  It  is  immediately  in  the  rear  of  Bunker's  Hill,  (Henry 
Taylor's  place,)  and  three  miles  from  Leedstown.  His  estates — subse- 
quently divided  between  my  father  and  his  brothers,  Daniel,  George,  and 
daughter  Elizabeth — were  on  the  Potomac  and  Rappahannock  Rivers,  and 
partly  in  Richmond  county.  My  third  great-uncle,  Richard,  whom  I  re- 
member well,  settled  in  Culpepper,  and  his  descendants,  (except  one  son, 
"William , — Episcopalian, — who  married  old  Parson  Woodville's  daughter, 
and  removed  to  Columbus,  Mississippi,)  Methodists,  are  now  to  be  found 
in  Oulpepper  county. 

"  When  in  Alexandria,  Mr.  Dana  showed  me  in  the  vestry-books  of 
Christ  Church  the  name  of  William  Payne  associated  with  Greorge  Wash- 
ington; and  one  of  the  cross-streets  in  Alexandria,  near  the  head  of  King, 
I  noticed,  still  bears  the  name  of  *  Payne  Street/  Learning  that  this  family 
emigrated  to  the  West,  when  in  Lexington  I  made  inquiries  about  them, 
and  soon  found  multitudes  of  most  respectable  people  in  and  about  Lexing- 
ton and  Frankfort  bearing  this  name.  They  are  Presbyterians.  Mr. 
Berkeley,  the  Episcopal  minister,  subsequently  introduced  me  to  Dr. 
Payne,  of  Lexington,  who  said  at  once,  f  We  are  doubtless  the  same  family/ 
and  he  and  all  his  relatives  about  there  were  descended  from  Washington's 
contemporary  and  associate,  William  Payne,  of  Alexandria.  He  told  me 
with  a  spirit  of  too  much  self-complacency — as  I  told  him — that  this  was 
the  same  William  Payne  who  knocked  down  General  Washington  in  Alex- 
andria for  insulting  him.  But  he  replied  quickly,  "Oh,  no!  he  was  right. 
For  General  Washington  the  next  day  sent  him  an  apology,  instead  of  a 
challenge  as  his  friends  had  anticipated/ 

"  Of  the  ecclesiastical  and  theological  views  of  my  father  and  grand- 
father I  know  but  little.  I  think  you  told  me  that  the  latter  gave  you  proof 
that  he  clung  to  '  the  old  Church'  and  eschewed  all  others.  I  am  inclined 
to  think,  from  circumstances  which  I  can  remember,  that  my  father  was 
like-minded.  I  found  among  his  books  '  The  Theological  Repertory/  with 
whose  history  you  are  familiar;  and  one  of  the  few  things  that  I  can  re- 
member about  him  well  was  his  holding  long  and  late  discussions  with  the 
Methodist  ministers  who  in  1828-25  began  to  preach  in  the  neighbourhood 
and  occasionally  to  visit  my  father's  house.  My  father  was  a  teetotaller, 
very  thoughtful, — I  will  hope,  a  religious  man,  though  of  this  I  cannot  be 
certain.  My  mother,  however,  from  my  earliest  recollection  I  know  was, 
but  she  did  not  make  a  profession  of  religion  until  after  my  father's  death, 
nor  until  my  eldest  sister  (now  dead)  made  a  profession  among  the  Method- 
ists. This  circumstance  leads  me  to  think  my  father's  influence  prevented 
my  mother  from  uniting  herself  before  with  the  Methodists, — though  the 
only  representative  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  the  neighbourhood  was  our 
poor  friend,  Mr.  Clapham. 

"  The  last  baptism  by  a  Church  parson  in  our  family  was  that  of  brother 
William.  I  infer  it  was  one  of  the  old  sort,  as  his  godfather  was  any  thing 
but  a  pious  man,  and  thought  his  duty  to  his  godson  quite  performed  after 
he  had  given  him  a  yoke  of  oxen. 

"  I  have  said  I  was  born  in  the  White  Oak  Swamps  about  one  mile  from 
the  Potomac.  This  was  my  father's  residence  for  two  or  three  years  after 
his  marriage,  being  convenient  to  his  estate  on  the  Potomac.  But  it  proved 
bo  tmfe-ealthy  that  he  purchased  one  of  the  old  glebes  in  the  Pine  Forest, 
on  t7  *  ridge  between  the  Potomac  and  Rappahannock,  seven  miles  from 


16tJ  OLD   CHUBCEES,   MINISTERS,   AK0 

tbe  former,  and  ihree  from  the  nearest  point  of  the  latter.  Here  eight 
of  us  were  reared  in  most  remarkable  health.  From  this  glebe  to  the 
Old  Round  Hill  Church,  or  rather  its  remains,— for  it  was  demolished 
before  my  earliest  recollection, — there  was  in  my  childhood  one  of  the^most 
beautiful"  roads  1  ever  saw.  It  led  for  several  miles  in  a  direction  perfectly 
straight,  under  an  avenue  of  beautiful  oaks.  It  was  called  'the  Parson's 
Eoad,'  and  was  no  doubt  the  road  by  which  the  parsons  travelled  to  the 
Round  Hill  Church.  By-the-way,  have  you  ever  ascertained  or  written 
the  history  of  this  said  Bound  Hill  Church?  It  was  situated  on  a  beau- 
tiful and  commanding  knoll,  near  old  Machodoc  Meeting-House,  which 
superseded  it,  and  in  which  Mr.  Clapham  was  wont  to  officiate  before  his 
removal  from  King  George  to  London.  But,  as  I  have  said,  nothing  of 
it  but  some  fragments  remained  at  the  time  of  my  earliest  visits  to  the 
neighbourhood. 

u  I  have  given  you  all  that  occurs  to  me  of  my  family  history  of  inte- 
rest. Should  you  wish  to  make  further  inquiries,  I  would  refer  you  to  my 
cousin,  Mrs.  Scott,  of  Fredericksburg,  and  through  Cousin  Richard  Payne, 
of  Warrenton,  to  his  father  and  Mrs.  Scott's  eldest  brother,  Daniel  Payne, 
who  resides  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Warrenton.  He  is  called  the  French- 
man of  our  family,  and  should  you  ever  meet  with  him  you  will  find 
him  very  agreeable  and  fond  of  talking,  and  on  no  subject  more  than  that 
about  which  I  have  been  writing/' 

THE  WASHING-TON  FAMILY. 

It  is  agreed  on  all  hands  that,  about  the  year  1655,  two  brothers, 
John  and  Laurence  Washington,  came  over  to  Virginia  and  settled 
in  Westmoreland  county.  In  all  the  histories  which  I  have  seen 
of  the  Washington  family  there  is  not  another  word  said  of  Lau- 
rence Washington,  except  that  he  and  his  brother  came  together 
and  settled  at  the  same  place.  While  the  descendants  of  John 
Washington,  in  all  their  branches,  are  minutely  described  in  gene- 
alogies and  histories  and  biographies,  doubtless  in  a  great  measure 
because  the  great  Washington  was  one  of  them,  Laurence  Wash- 
ington was  forgotten  and  lost  sight  of  as  though  he  had  never  been. 
I  have  met  with  persons  who  could  not  trace  their  connection  with 
General  Washington  or  Ms  first  ancestors,  yet  were"  certain  of  some 
connection  with  the  family,  but  never  thought  of  inquiring  whether 
their  descent  is  not  from  the  other  brother.  In  a  recent  visit  to 
Tappahannock,  the  county  seat  of  Essex  county,  (where  are  the 
records  of  the  old  county  of  Rappahannock,  which  from  165S  to 
1692  embraced  all  that  lay  on  each  side  of  the  Bappahannock 
River  for  some  miles  up  to  the  Falls  above  Fredericksburg,)  in 
searching  in  an  old  record  of  wills,  I  found  that  of  this  same  Lau- 
rence Washington.  Although  he  may  have  settled  near  the  Poto- 
mac "with  bis  brother  John,  he  must  have  removed  into  Bappa- 
hannock  county,  for  his  will  is  there  recorded.  He  may  h?  /e  done 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  167 

this  without  moving  many  miles  from  his  brother,  as  Westmoreland 
county  and  Washington  parish  were  only  about  five  miles  wide,  and 
Rappahannock  county  and  Littenburne  parish  were  about  the  same 
width,  the  one  lying  on  the  Potomac,  the  other  on  the  Rappahan 
nock  River.  I  have  also  obtained,  by  the  help  of  a  friend,  the 
will  of  Mr,  John  Washington,  which  was  recorded  at  Westmoreland 
Court-House,  and  whose  original  is  still  there  in  an  old  book  of 
wills,  though  in  a  somewhat  mutilated  form.  That  they  were  the 
two  brothers  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  they  mention  each  other 
in  their  wills.  Both  of  the  wills  are  made  in  the  same  year, — that 
of  one  on  February  26,  16T5 ;  that  of  the  other  on  September  27, 
1675.  The  one  is  proved  the  10th  of  January,  1677,  and  the  other 
the  6th  of  January  of  the  same  year,  at  an  interval  of  only  four 
days,  so  that  it  is  probable  they  died  in  a  few  days  of  each  other. 
There  is  something  so  pious  in  the  language  of  these  wills,  that  I 
make  no  apology  for  introducing  a  portion  of  them.  Without  any 
means  of  ascertaining  which  was  the  elder  of  the  two,  we  begin 
with  the  will  of  John  Washington: — 

"In  the  name  of  G-od,  Amen.  I,  John  Washington,  of  Washington 
parish,  in  the  county  of  Westmoreland,  in  Virginia,  gentleman,  being^of 
good  and  perfect  memory,  thanks  be  unto  Almighty  Q-od  for  it,  and  calling 
to  remembrance  the  uncertain  state  of  this  transitory  life,  that  all  flesh 
must  yield  unto  death,  do  make,  constitute,  and  ordain  this  my  last  will 
and  testament  and  none  other.  And  first,  being  heartily  sorry,  from  the 
bottom  of  my  heart,  for  my  sins  past,  most  humbly  desiring  forgiveness 
of  the  same  from  the  Almighty  God,  my  Saviour  and  Redeemer,  in  whom 
and  by  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ  I  trust  and  belkve  assuredly  to  be  saved, 
and  to  have  fall  remission  and  forgiveness  of  all  my  sins,  and  that  my  soul 
with  my  body  at  the  general  resurrection  shall  rise  again  with  joy." 

Again  he  repeats  the  same  sentiment,  hoping  "  through  the 
merits  of  Jesus  Christ's  death  and  passion  to  possess  and  inherit 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  prepared  for  his  elect  and  chosen/'  He 
directs  his  body  to  be  buried  on  the  plantation  upon  which  he 
lived,  by  the  side  of  his  wife  and  two  children.  He  then  proceeds 
to  distribute  his  property,  which  he  says  it  has  pleased  God  to  give 
him  "  far  above  his  deserts/'  After  dividing  a  number  of  landed 
estates  between  his  second  and  surviving  wife  and  his  children,—  - 
John,  Laurence,  and  Anne, — and  also  Ms  property  in  England,  he 
directs  that  a  funeral  sermon  be  preached  and  no  other  funeral 
kept,  and  that  a  tablet  with  the  Ten  Commandments  be  sent  fhr  to 
England  and  given  to  the  church.  I  think,  also,  that  he  directs 
four  thoosand-weight  of  tobacco  to  be  given  to  the  minister,  though 


168  OLD  CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,  AND 

of  this  I  am  not  certain,  some  words  being  lost.  He  leaves  one 
thousand  pounds  to  Ms  brother-in-law,  Thomas  Pope,  and  one 
thousand  pounds  and  four  thousand-weight  of  tobacco  to  his  sister, 
who  had  come  or  was  coming  over  to  this  country.  He  makes  his 
wife  and  brother  Laurence  his  executors.  From  the  above  it  would 
seem  that,  great  as  were  his  military  talents,  being  commander-in- 
chief  in  the  Northern  Neck,  high  as  he  stood  in  the  Government, 
BO  that  the  parish  was  called  after  him,  and  large  as  was  his  property 
in  England  and  America,  he  was  also  a  sincerely  pious  man,  and 
in  his  will  emphatically  testifies  to  those  great  Gospel  principles 
which  are  so  prominent  in  the  Church  of  his  fathers. 

In  the  will  of  his  brother  Laurence  there  is  the  same  spirit  of  piety. 
After  the  usual  preamble,  he  says,  "  Imprimis :  I  give  and  bequeath 
my  soul  unto  the  hands  of  Almighty  God,  hoping  and  trusting, 
through  the  mercy  of  Jesus  OJirist,  my  one  Saviour  and  Redeemer ', 
to  receive  full  pardon  and  forgiveness  of  all  my  sins,  and  my  body 
to  the  earth,  to  be  buried  in  comely  and  decent  manner  by  my  exe- 
cutor hereafter  named :  and  for  my  worldly  goods,  I  thus  dispose  of 
them."  To  his  daughter  Mary  Washington  (by  a  former  wife  in 
England)  he  bequeathed  his  whole  estate  in  England,  both  real 
and  personal,  to  be  delivered  immediately  after  his  death,  together 
with  a  ring  and  other  articles.  To  his  loving  son  John  he  left  all 
his  books  and  part  of  his  plate,  the  other  part  to  his  daughter  Ann, 
when  they  should  be  of  age  or  marry.  His  lands  are  divided  be- 
tween his  wife  and  the  two  children — John  and  Ann — by  her.  A 
farm  called  West  Fales,  which  lay  on  the  south  side  of  the  Rappa- 
hannock,  which  once  belonged  to  Captain  Alexander  Fleming,  and 
which  came  to  him  by  his  wife,  was  to  be  sold  for  his  debts.  It  is 
probable  that  his  second  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Captain  Fleming. 
He  leaves  his  wife  executrix  of  the  estate,  but  provides  that  in  case 
of  her  death  or  neglect  to  be  the  guardian  and  overseer  of  his 
children,  his  loving  brother  John  Washington  and  loving  friend 
Thomas  Hawkins  should  be.  In  a  codicil  written  at  the  same  time, 
he  leaves  that  part  of  the  land  on  which  he  then  lived,  and  which 
came  to  him  by  marriage,  to  the  sole  disposal  of  his  wife.  It  is 
probable,  from  the  above,  that  he  lived  on  the  north  side  of  the 
river,  in  what  is  now  Westmoreland.  From  the  foregoing  particu- 
lars, some  other  than  myself  may  be  able  to  ascertain  the  maiden 
name  of  Ms  wife,  and  who,  if  any,  are  the  descendants  of  his  three 
children,  as  it  is  more  than  probable  they  had  descendants. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  169 


THE  WASHINGTON   FAMILY   SEAT  AND    VAULT. 

I  recently  paid  a  visit  to  the  old  family  seat  of  the  Washingtons, 
which  is  sometimes  said  to  be  on  Pope's  Creek,  and  sometimes  on 
Bridge's  Creek,  near  the  Potomac.  The  farm  lay  between  the  two, 
which  are  about  a  mile  apart,  near  their  junction  with  the  Potomac. 
The  family  mansion  lies  near  Pope's  Creek,  and  the  vault  where 
the  dead  were  deposited  near  Bridge's  Creek.  The  latter  appears 
to  have  been  favourable  to  a  rich  growth  of  cedars,  and  may  have 
been  chosen  for  this  reason.  Or  it  may  be  that  one  of  the  two 
brothers  first  settled  there.  The  estate  is  still  in  the  family,  or  in 
the  possession  of  one  intermarried  with  the  family.  Some  years 
since  it  was  owned  by  Mr.  John  Gray,  of  Travellers'  Rest,  near 
Fredericksburg,  who  either  repaired  one  of  the  outhouses  or  a  wing 
of  the  old  one,  or  built  a  small  house  for  his  overseer  out  of  the  old 
materials.  The  brick  chimney  is  all  that  remains  of  the  Washing- 
ton mansion, — the  birthplace  of  General  Washington, — except  the 
broken  bricks  which  are  scattered  about  over  the  spot  where  it  was 
built.  The  grandson  of  Mrs.  General  Washington,  Mr.  Cnstis,  of 
Arlington,  some  years  since  placed  a  slab  with  a  brief  inscription 
on  the  spot,  but  it  is  now  in  fragments.  I  was  happy  to  hear  that 
a  bill  had  passed  one  branch  of  our  Legislature,  appropriating  a  sum 
of  money  for  enclosing  this  spot,  as  well  as  the  vault  in  a  neigh- 
bouring field  nearly  a  mile  off,  I  also  visited  that  spot,  which  no 
one  can  look  upon  without  distress  and  even  disgust.  The  condition 
of  all  such  vaults  as  were  once  common  in  some  parts  of  Virginia, 
especially  in  the  Northern  Neck,  must  after  the  lapse  of  time  be 
necessarily  thus  distressing  and  disgusting,  like  the  sepulchres  of 
old  when  filled  "with  rottenness  and  dead  men's  bones."  The 
vault  where  so  many  of  the  Washington  family  are  interred  is  in  an 
open  field  and  menclosed.  A  small  space  around  it  is  covered  with 
grass,  briers,  shrubs,  and  a  few  small  trees.  Itself  can  only  be 
distinguished  by  the  top  of  the  brick  arch  which  rises  a  little  above 
the  surface.  The  cavity  underneath  has  been  very  properly  filled 
up  with  earth  by  Mr.  Laurence  Washington,  one  of  its  late  proprie- 
tors, to  prevent  the  bones  of  the  dead  being  taken  away  by  visitors, 
who  had  begun  thus  to  pillage  it.  Not  far  from  the  vault  there  was 
a  large  slab  lying  on  the  ground,  with  the  name  of  one  of  the  family 
and  two  of  his  children.  There  were  also  fragments  of  another. 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  Legislature  will  resolve  on  putting  a 
permanent  enclosure  around  this  also, 


170  OLD   CHLECHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

THE   VAITLT   OF   THE   LEES   AT   STRATFORD,  IX  WESTMORELAND. 

In  the  preceding  sketch  of  the  Lees,  by  Mr.  William  Lee,  cf 
London,  there  is  mention  made  of  a  loss  bj  fire  sustained  by  his 
father,  Thomas  Lee,  of  Stratford,  and  of  a  present  to  him  by  Queen 
Caroline.  This  establishes  the  source  from  whence  came  the  means 
of  building  the  present  most  durable  building  at  that  place,  which 
for  the  thickness  of  the  walls  and  the  excellency  of  its  architecture 
is  not  surpassed,  if  equalled,  by  any  in  Virginia.*  It  has  some- 
times been  called  the  Governor's  House,  probably  because  its 
owner  and  builder,  Thomas  Lee,  was  commissioned  as  Governor, 
though  he  did  not  live  to  act  in  that  capacity.  The  cemetery 
was  not  built  by  him,  as  he  was  buried  at  Pope's  Creek  Church. 
I  have  been  assured  by  Mrs.  Eliza  Turner,  who  was  there  at 
the  time,  that  it  was  built  by  General  Harry  Lee.  The  ceme- 
tery is  much  larger  than  any  other  in  the  Northern  Neck,  consist- 
ing of  several  apartments  or  alcoves  for  different  branches  of  the 
family.  Instead  of  an  arch  over  them  there  is  a  brick  house,  per- 
haps twenty  feet  square,  covered  in.  A  floor  covers  the  cemetery. 
In  the  centre  is  a  large  trapdoor,  through  which  you  descend  by  a 
ladder  to  the  apartments  below.  I  went  down  into  it  some  years 
since,  when  nothing  was  to  be  seen  but  the  bones  of  the  deceased, 
which  were  scattered  over  the  dirt  floor.  I  was  informed  that  it 
had  sometimes  been  filled  with  water,  and  that  then  the  bones  and 
skulls  of  the  deceased  might  be  seen  floating  upon  the  surface, — at 
any  rate,  if  stirred  up  with  a  pole,  a-s  was  sometimes  done.  The 
entrance  to  this  house  has  of  late  years  been  almost  prevented  by 
a  thick  growth  of  young  aspens  and  briers.  I  am  happy  to  state 
that  it  is  the  purpose  of  the  present  proprietor  to  fill  up  the  vault, 
take  down  the  brick  walls  and  convert  them  into  a  mound  over  the 
place,  and  on  the  top  of  the  mound  to  have  the  tombstone  of  old 
Thomas  Lee  fixed  in  some  immovable  way. 

Some  mournful  thoughts  will  force  themselves  upon  us  when 
considering  the  ruins  of  churches,  of  mansions,  and  of  cemeteries, 
in  Westmoreland.  By  reason  of  the  worth,  talents,  and  patriotism 
which  once  adorned  it,  it  was  called  the  Athens  of  Yirginia,  But 
how  few  of  the  descendants  of  those  who  once  were  its  ornaments 

*  An  American  writer  says  there  were  once  a  hundred  rooms  in  this  house.  A 
view  of  the  engraving  0f  it  will  show  how  untrue  this  is.  Even  including  the  base- 
ment and  the  large  hall,  there  are  not  more,  I  think,  than  seventeen,  and  never  were 
more.  Another  says  there  were  one  hundred  stadia  for  horses  in  the  stable, — almost 
equally  untrue. 


FAMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA.  171 

ire  now  to  be  found  in  it !  Chantilly,  Mount  Pleasant,  Wakefield, 
are  now  no  more.  Stratford  alone  remains.  Where  now  are  the 
venerable  churches?  Pope's  Creek,  Round  Hill,  Nomini,  Leeds, 
where  are  they  ?  Yeocomico  only  survives  the  general  wreck.  Of 
the  old  men,  mansions,  churches,  &c.  we  are  tempted  to  say, 
"Fuit  Hlium,  et  ingens  gloria  Dardanidum;"  and  yet  we  rejoice 
to  think  that  new  ones  have  taken  their  places,  in  some  respects 
better  suited  to  present  times  and  circumstances.  Those  who,  in 
the  general  defection,  have  remained  to  the  Church,  are  exerting 
themselves  to  repair  the  waste  places;  and  we  trust  there  await*  for 
Westmoreland  a  greater  glory  than  the  former. 


172  OLD  CEFKCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 


ARTICLE  LXIi. 

Famham  and  Lumnburg  Parishes,  Richmond  County. 

To  do  justice  to  the  Hstory  of  this  county  and  these  parishes, 
we  must  go  back  to  the  time  "when  they  were  a  part  of  Rappahan- 
nock  county  and  Littenburne  parish, — which  they  were  from  the 
year  1658  to  1692, — when  new  counties  and  parishes  were  esta- 
blished* But  where  are  the  vestry-books  or  county  records  from 
whence  to  draw  our  facts  ?  Of  the  former  there  are  none.  Some 
few  of  the  latter  are  to  be  seen  in  Tappahannock,  the  county  seat 
of  Essex,  where  the  archives  of  old  Rappahannock  county  are 
preserved. 

At  my  request,  a  worthy  friend — most  competent  to  the  task — 
has  searched  these  records,  and  though  unable  to  specify  who  were 
the  vestrymen  of  the  parish,  yet,  in  giving  the  following  list  of 
magistrates  from  1680  to  1695,  has  doubtless  furnished  us  with 
the  names  of  far  the  greater  part  of  the  vestrymen,  if  not  the  whole 
of  them,  during  that  period.  We  cannot  determine  to  which  side  of 
the  river  they  belonged,  as  both  the  county  and  parish  were  on  both 
sides.  They  are  as  follows :— Henry  Aubrey,  Major  Henry  Smith, 
Captain  George  Taylor,  Mr.  Thomas  Harrison,  Colonel  John  Stone, 
Colonel  Leroy  Griffin,  Major  Robinson,  Colonel  William  Loyd,  Cap- 
tain Samuel  Bloomfield,  William  launtleroy,  Samuel  Peachy,  Wil- 
liam Slaughter,  Cadwallader  Jones,  Henry  Williamson.  My  friend 
adds  that "  the  character  and  habits  of  the  early  settlers,  so  far  as  can 
be  ascertained  from  their  wills  and  the  records,  indicate  intelligence 
and  a  high  state  of  morals  for  the  times."  This  section  appears  to 
have  been  settled  chiefly  by  those  coming  from  the  lower  counties,— 
the  names  of  the  principal  men  being  those  of  families  in  the  lower 
country.  There  are  some,  however,  whose  names  are  rarely  met 
with  in  other  counties;  and  there  is  evidence  that  they  originally 
settled  here*  They  are  such  as  Latane,  Waring,  Upshaw,  Rowsee, 
Rennolds,  Micou,  Roy,  Clements,  Young. 

To  the  labours  of  another  friend,  on  the  other  side  of  the  river, 
we  are  indebted  for  information  gotten  from  the  records  of  Rich- 


FAMILIES   OS    VIRGINIA.  173 

mond  county  after  the  year  1692,  which  can  nowhere  else  be  found, 
as  we  have  no  vestry-book  of  that  county,  except  that  of  North 
Farnham  parish,  from  the  year  1787  to  1804.  The  first  justices  of 
the  peace  were  Captain  George  Taylor,  William  Underwood,  Cap- 
tain William  Barber,  James  Scott,  Captain  Alexander  Swan.  From 
that  time  to  the  Revolution,  the  principal  families  in  the  county 
were  Stone,  Glascock,  Deane,  Donaphun,  Colston,  Thornton,  Travis, 
Peachy,  Tayloe,  Conway,  Brockenbrough,  Gwin,  Tarplay,  Down- 
man,  Slaughter,  Parker,  Sherlock,  Davis,  Robinson,  Beale  Smith, 
Woodbridge,  Heale,  Barrow,  Taverner,  Barber,  Griffin,  Fitzhugh, 
Fauntleroy,  Gibson,  Taliafero,  Ingo,  Bellfield,  Tomlin,  Grymes, 
Metcalf,  Newton,  Barnes,  Sydnor,  Jordan,  Hornby,  Hamilton,  Car- 
ter, Mountjoy,  Flood,  Plummer,  Beckwith.  Of  all  these,  my  in- 
formant says,  a  very  few  have  descendants  in  the  county  at  this 
time  who  are  called  by  these  names. 

According  to  the  records  of  the  court,  he  says,  there  were  once 
three  parishes  in  the  county, — North  Farnham,  Lunenburg,  and  St, 
Mary's, — having  separate  ministers. 

Of  the  three  ministers  mentioned  on  the  records,  from  the  year 
1693  to  1742,  the  account  is  sad.  The  two  first — John  Burnet  and 
John  Alexander — were  always  in  court,  suing  or  being  sued.  The 
third — the  Rev.  Thomas  Blewer — was  presented  by  the  grand  jury 
as  a  common  swearer.  A  particular  account  is  drawn  from  the 
records  of  different  families.  From  the  votes  on  election-days,  the 
Woodbridges  and  Fauntleroys  appear  to  have  been  at  one  time  the 
most  popular.  The  Carters  and  Tayloes,  of  Sabine  Hall  and  Mount 
Airy,  were  active  and  useful  men.  The  Chinns  first  appear  in 
1713.  "From  Raleigh  Chinn,"  he  says,  "descended  those  model 
males  and  females  of  that  name  who  have  served  to  give  character 
to  our  county  in  modern  times."  The  McCartys  were  an  ancient 
family,  springing  from  Daniel  and  Dennis  McCarty,  who  are  first 
mentioned  in  1710. 

Having  furnished  this  general  account  of  individuals  and  families 
from  the  court  records,  we  proceed  to  give  the  information  in  our 
possession  concerning  each  of  the  parishes  separately. 

First,  of  North  Farnham.  This  was  established  in  1693,  when 
Rappahannoek  county  was  stricken  from  the  list  of  counties  and 
Richmond  and  Essex  erected  in  its  stead,  and  South  Farnham 
parish  created  in  Essex.  The  first  minister  of  this  parish  whom 
we  have  on  our  lists — though  there  were  doubtless  many  before — is 
the  Rev.  William  Mackay,  who  was  there  in  1754,  and  continued 


174  OLD   CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,   AND 

until  1774.*  From  his  long  continuance  in  the  parish  and  the 
respectability  of  the  people,  we  have  grounds  for  believing  that  he 
was  a  worthy  man, — although  in  a  few  years  after  Ms  death,  or 
departure  from  the  parish,  it  seems  to  haye  been  in  the  most  de- 
plorable condition,  as  we  shall  soon  see.  The  Rev*  John  Leland,  a 
worthy  minister  from  Northumberland,  officiated  statedly  in  Farn- 
ham  for  some  time  after  Mr.  Mackay  disappears.  Then  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Davis,  from  one  of  the  parishes  of  Northumberland,  gives 
them  a  portion  of  his  time  for  two  years.  After  this  a  considerable 
interval  occurred  in  which  there  was  no  vestry, — several  efforts  at 
an  election  having  failed.  At  length,  a  partial  meeting  having  been 
had,  the  following  address  was  prepared : — 

"FRIENDS  AND   FELLOW  PEOTESTANT  EPISCOPALIANS  :— 

u  Permit  us,  surviving  members  of  the  late  vestry  of  this  parish,  to  ad- 
dress you  and  entreat  you,  for  your  own  sakes  as  well  as  that  of  the  rising 
generation,  to  come  forward  on  this  occasion.  Although  our  church,  from 
various  causes,  has  been  most  woefully  neglected  for  a  season,  we  flatter 
ourselves  that  the  time  is  at  hand  when  the  members  thereof — of  whom 
there  are  not  a  few — will  throw  off  their  lukewaroiness  and  exert  themselves 
in  the  cause  of  that  profession  of  Christianity  handed  down  to  us  by  our 
forefathers,  who — God  rest  their  souls — left  us  a  goodly  fabric  to  assemble 
in  and  pay  our  devotions  to  the  Almighty  Creator  and  Preserver  of  the 
universe,  as  they  had  done, — although  by  our  neglect  it  is  mouldering  into 
rains.  The  first  step  toward  a  reform  is  the  appointment  of  trustees; 
for?  until  that  is  done^  our  church  must  remain  in  that  miserable  condition 
we  see  it.  There  is  now  a  probability  of  procuring  a  minister  to  perform 
divine  service  once  a  fortnight ;  but  this  cannot  be  done  until  there  shall 
be  persons  authorized  to  meet  and  consult  on  the  ways  and  means  of  afford- 
ing him  an  adequate  compensation  for  his  services.  Awaken,  then,  from 
this  fatal  supineness.  Elect  your  trustees,  and  they,  we  doubt  not,  will 
make  the  necessary  arrangements,  in  the  accomplishment  of  which,  aided 
by  your  hearty  exertions  and  concurrence,  our  church  will  be  restored  to 
its  former  decency  and  rank  as  the  temple  of  the  living  God. 
**  We  are  your  Christian  brethren  and  friends  of  true  religion, 

"BENJAMIN  SMITH,       WILLIAM  PEACHT, 
"B.  McCAETY,  JOHN  STONOK, 

"WALKER  TOMLIN,        JOHN  FAUNTLEKOY, 
"  RICHARD  BEALE,         SAMUEL  HIPKINS/* 

Great  pains  were  taken  to  circulate  this ;  and  yet  on  the  ap- 
pointed day  less  than  thirty  persons  assembled,  and  half  of  these 
alter  two  o'clock,  and  so  there  was  no  election. f  Five  or  six  of  those 
present  agreed  to  appoint  Whit-Monday  for  another  meeting,  and 


*  It  shotild  probably  be  McKay,  though  it  Is  written  Mackay  in  our  printed  lists. 
t  TMs  was  urob&blv  lees  than  the  number  hitherto  recraired  bv  law. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  175 

to  get  a  neighbouring  minister  to  preach  on  that  day.  This  was 
successful,  and  they  paid  the  minister  four  pounds  ten  shillings  for 
coming. 

The  vestry  direct  Mr.  William  Peachy  to  write  to  Bishop  Madi- 
son for  a  minister,  to  which  the  following  answer  was  received  :  — 

"WlLLIAMSBURG.  August  1,  1794. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  —  It  would  afford  me  great  pleasure,  could  I  give  you  an 
assurance  of  heing  speedily  supplied  with  a  worthy  minister.  I  sincerely 
regret  the  deserted  situation  of  too  many  of  our  parishes,  and  lament  the 
evils  that  must  ensue.  Finding  that  few  persons,  natives  of  this  State, 
were  desirous  of  qualifying  themselves  for  the  ministerial  office,  I  have 
written  to  some  of  the  Northern  States,  and  have  reason  to  expect  several 
young  clergymen  who  have  been  liberally  educated,  of  unexceptionable 
moral  character,  and  who,  I  flatter  myself,  will  also  be  generally  desirous 
of  establishing  an  academy  for  the  instruction  of  youth,  wherever  they 
may  reside.  Should  they  arrive,  or  should  any  other  opportunity  present 
itself  of  recommmending  a  worthy  minister,  I  beg  you  to  be  assured,  if 
your  advertisement  proves  unsuccessful,  that  I  shall  pay  due  attention  to 
the  application  of  the  worthy  trustees  of  North  Farnham. 
"With  great  respect,  I  am,  dear  sir, 
"  Your  most  ob't  servant, 

''JAMES  MADISON." 

The  Bishop,  it  seems,  was  as  much  troubled  about  getting  a 
meeting  of  the  Convention,  as  the  friends  of  the  Church  in  Farnham 
had  been  to  get  an  election  of  vestrymen*  The  following  circular 
will  too  surely  establish  that  :  — 


G,  December  13,  1795. 

"REVEREND  SIR  :  —  It  is,  no  doubt,  well  known  to  you  that  the  failure 
last  May  in  holding  a  Convention  at  the  time  and  place  agreed  upon  was 
matter  of  deep  regret  to  every  sincere  friend  of  our  Church,  To  prevent, 
if  possible,  a  similar  calamity  at  the  next  stated  time  for  holding  Con- 
ventions, the  "deputies  who  met  last  May  requested  me  to  send  circular 
letters  to  the  different  parishes,  exhorting  them  to  pay  a  stricter  regard 
to  one  of  the  fundamental  canons  of  the  Church.  I  fulfil  the  duty  with 
alacrity,  because  the  necessity  of  regular  Conventions  is  urged  by  conside- 
rations as  obvious  as  they  are  weighty,  I  need  not  here  enter  into  a  detail 
of  those  considerations  j  but  I  wUl  ask,  at  what  time  was  the  fostering  care 
of  the  guardians—  nay,  of  every  member  —  of  the  Church  more  necessary 
than  at  this  period?  Who  dofch  not  know  that  indifference  to  her  interests 
must  inevitably  inflict  a  mortal  wound,  over  which  the  wise  and  the  good 
may  in  vain  weep,  when  they  behold  that  wound  baffliag  every  effort  to 
arrest  its  fatal  progress  f  Who  doth  not  know  that  irreligioa  and  im- 
piety sleep  cot  whilst  we  slumber?  Who  doth  not  know  that  there  are 
other  enemies  who  laugh  at  our  negligent  supineneas  and  deem  it  their 
victory? 

u  But,  independent  of  these  general  considerations,  there  are  matters 
of  the  first  moment  to  our  Church,  which  require  the  fullest  represeatatioa 


176  OLD  CHUECHES,   MINISTEKS,  AND 

at  the  ensuing  Convention.  Those  parishes  winch,  faithful  to  their  duty, 
have  not  failed  on  former  occasioDS  to  send  forward  their  deputies,  as  di- 
rected by  the  injunction  of  the  Church,  need  no  exhortation  on  this  subject. 
The  same  laudable  sentiments  which  have  hitherto  directed  their  conduct 
will  doubtless  continue  to  produce  a  similar  effect.  But  to  those  which  have 
been  neglectful  in  making  the  necessary  appointment  of  deputies,  and  in 
supplying  the  means  for  their  attendance,  I  address  myself  with  peculiar  so- 
licitude. Let  me  then,  sir,  through  your  agency,  and,  where  there  is  no 
minister,  let  me  through  the  agency  of  the  churchwardens  or  vestry,  exhort 
and  entreat  such  parishes  to  be  no  longer  unmindful  of  the  interests  of 
their  Church, — no  longer  to  be  languid  and  indifferent  in  what  concerns 
her  essential  welfare, — no  longer  to  treat  her  injunctions  with  disrespect, — 
but,  oo  the  contrary,  animated  by  a  wurin  and  laudable  zeal,  and  satisfied 
how  much  the  holy  cause  of  religion  must  depend  on  wise  and  prudent 
exertions,  let  them  evince,  at  the  approaching  Convention,  that  they  will 
not  abandon  a  Church  which  they  cannot  fail  to  love  and  to  venerate  so 
long  as  piety  and  virtue  shall  continue  to  maintain  the  least  portion  of 
influence  in  the  hearts  of  men.  Permit  me  only  to  add,  that  I  feel  a 
confidence  that  this  exhortation  will  not  be  disregarded,  and  that  the  next 
Convention,  which  is  to  be  holden  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  May  next,  will 
manifest  to  the  Church  and  to  the  world  that  the  zeal  of  both  clergy  and 
laity  remains  unabated.  Such  is  the  confidence  and  such  the  sincere 
prayer  of  Your  brother  in  Christ, 

"  JAMES  MADISON, 
"Bishop  of  the  ProL  IJpis.  Church  in  Virginia." 

In  the  year  1796,  the  vestry  obtained  the  services  of  the  Rev. 
George  Young,  for  one  Sunday  in  three,  (the  other  two  being 
engaged  to  the  adjoining  parish  of  Lunenburg,)  agreeing  to  pay 
him  the  sum  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  besides  the  rent 
of  the  glebe.  In  the  year  1799,  the  Rev.  John  Seward  offers  his 
services  one  Sunday  in  three,  and  receives  two  hundred  dollars 
with  the  glebe.  Here  the  vestry-book  ends,  except  an  entry  of  an 
election  of  vestrymen  in  1802. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  vestrymen  from  1787  to  1802  : — 

William  Peachy,  William  Miskell,  John  Fauntleroy,  John  Sydnor,  Leroy 
Peachy,  Griffin  Fauntleroy,  Thaddeus  Williams,  J.  Hammond,  Benjamin 
Smith,  Samuel  Hipkins,  Epaphroditus  Sydnor,  Jno.  Smith, Walker  Tomlin, 
Blehard  Beale,  Bartholomew  McCarty,  David  Williams,  Ezekiel  Levy, 
Charles  Smith,  Abner  Dobyns,  William  McGarty,  William  Palmer,  John 
G.  Chinn,  Vincent  Branhatn,  W.  T.  Colston,  George  Miskell,  Peter  Tern 
ple;  J.  JI.  Yerby. 

If  there  were  any  other  minister  or  ministers  in  this  parish  until 
the  Rev,  Washington  Nelson,  in  1835,  took  charge  of  it  in  con- 
nection with  Lunenburg  parish,  of  the  same  county,  and  Cople 
parish,  Westmoreland,  we  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain  the 
fact  Under  Mr.  Nelson's  charge  the  Old  Farnham  Church  was 


±AMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA.  177 

repaired  at  a  cost  of  fourteen  hundred  dollars,  and  a  new  churcb 
built  at  the  court-house,  by  the  side  of  whose  walls  his  body  is 
interred,  Mr.  kelson  was  succeeded  in  all  his  congregations  by 
the  Rev.  William  Ward.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Coffin  succeeded  him  in 
Farnham  and  at  the  court-house,  and  continued  about  two  years, 
resigning  them  both  in  the  summer  of  1856. 

CHURCHES   1ST   NORTH   FARNHAM   PARISH. 

Besides  the  one  now  standing,  there  was  another  about  half-way 
between  it  and  the  court-house,  the  foundation  of  which  may  yet 
be  seen.  It  was  probably  deserted  at  the  time  that  North  Farnham 
Church  was  built ;  but  when  that  was,  cannot  be  discovered.  We 
have  mentioned  that  among  the  families  once  prominent  in  this 
parish — though  now  dispersed — were  those  of  the  Fauntleroys  and 
Colstons.  To  each  of  these,  within  a  few  miles  of  Farnham  Church, 
there  were  those  unhappy  receptacles  of  the  dead,  called  vaults, 
which  were  so  common  from  an  early  period  in  the  Northern 
Neck.  What  the  precise  condition  of  the  former  is,  we  have  not 
heard,  though  we  believe  a  bad  one.  As  to  the  latter,  the  follow- 
ing note,  which  I  find  among  my  papers,  gives  what  I  doubt  not  is 
a  true  account : — 

"  The  burying-place  of  the  Colston  faruily  is  on  the  Rappahannock  River, 
about  seven  miles  from  North  Farnham  Church.  The  vault  is  in  a  dilapi- 
dated condition.  It  was  originally  arched  over  with  brick.  A  number 
of  bones  are  exposed, — so  much  so,  that  with  but  little  difficulty  an  entire 
human  frame  could  be  collected. 

The  following  account  of  Old  Farnham  Church  in  my  report  to 
the  Convention  of  1838  will  complete  my  notices  of  this  parish : — 

"  My  appointment  next  in  order  was  at  Farnham  Church,  which  had 
recently  been  so  much  refitted,  that  on  this  account — because  it  is  believed 
that  none  of  the  old  churches  were  ever  consecrated — it  was  on  Tuesday, 
the  20th  of  June,  set  apart  to  the  worship  of  Grod,  according  to  the  pre- 
scribed form.  A  considerable  congregation  assembled  on  the  occasion, 
when  I  preached, — the  service  having  been  read  by  the  Rev.  Francis 
McG-uire,  and  the  deed  of  consecration  by  Mr.  Nelson,  the  pastor  of  the 
congregation.  This  church  was  first  built  more  than  a  hundred  years 
ago,  after  the  form  of  the  cross,  and  in  the  best  style  of  ancient  archi- 
tecture. Its  situation  is  pleasant  and  interesting^ — being  immediately  on 
the  main  county  road  leading  from  Biclnnond  Court-House  to  Lancaster 
Court-House. 

"What  causes  led  to  its  early  desertion,  premature  spoliation,  and 
shameless  profanation,  I  am  unable  to  state  j  but  it  is  said  by  the  neigh- 
bours not  to  have  been  used  for  the  last  thirty  or  forty  years.  Thus 
deserted  as  a  house  of  God,  it  became  a  prey  to  any  and  every  spoiler 
IL— 12 


178  OLD   CHUKCHES,   MINISTERS,  ASHD 

An  extensive  brick  wall  which  surrounded  the  church  and  guarded  the 
graves  of  the  dead  was  torn  down  and  used  for  hearths,  chimneys,  and 
other  purposes,  all  the  county  round.  The  interior  of  the  house  soon  sunk 
into  decay  and  was  carried  piecemeal  away.  For  many  years^It  was  the 
common  receptacle  of  every  beast  of  the  field  and  fowl  of  the  air.  It  was 
used  as  a  granary,  stable,  a  resort  for  hogs,  and  every  thing  that  chose  to 
shelter  there.  Would  that  I  could  stop  here!  but  I  am  ^too  credibly  in- 
formed  that  for  years  it  was  also  used  as  a  distillery  of  poisonous  liquors  ; 
and  that  on  the  very  spot  where  now  the  sacred  pulpit  stands,  that  vessel 
was  placed  in  which  the  precious  fruits  of  Heaven  were  concocted  and 
evaporated  into  a  fell  poison,  equally  fatal  to  the  souls  and  bodies  of  men  j 
while  the  marble  font  was  circulated  from  house  to  house,  on  every  occa- 
sion of  mirth  and  folly, — being  used  to  prepare  materials  for  feasting 
and  drunkenness, — until  at  length  it  was  found  bruised,  battered,  and 
deeply  sunk  in  the  cellar  of  some  deserted  tavern.  But  even  that  sacred 
vessel  has  been  redeemed,  and,  having  been  carefully  repaired,  has  resumed 
its  place  within  the  sacred  enclosure.  Although  the  doors  of  the  house 
had  been  enlarged,  by  tearing  away  the  bricks,  to  make  a  passage  for  the 
wagons  that  conveyed  the  fruits  that  were  to  be  distilled  into  the  means 
of  disease  and  death ;  although  the  windows  were  gone  and  the  roof  sunk 
into  decay, — the  walls  only  remaining,— yet  were  they  so  faithfully  exe- 
cuted by  the  workmen  of  other  days  as  to  bid  defiance  to  storms  and 
tempests,  and  to  stand  not  merely  as  monuments  of  the  fidelity  of  ancient 
architecture,  but  as  signals  from  Providence,  held  out  to  the  pious  and 
liberal  to  come  forward  and  repair  the  desolation.  J^or  have  these  signals 
been  held  out  in  vain  to  some  fast  friends  of  the  Church  of  their  fathers 
in  the  parish  of  North  Farnham*  At  an  expense  of  fourteen  hundred 
dollars,  they  have  made  Old  Farnham  one  of  the  most  agreeable^  con- 
venient, and  beautiful  churches  in  Virginia.  It  should  also  be  mentioned 
that  the  handsome  desk,  pulpit,  and  sounding-board  now  to  be  seen  in 
Farnham  Church  were  once  in  Christ  Church,  Baltimore,  when  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Johns  officiated  in  the  same.  They  were  a  present  from  the  minister 
and  vestry  of  that  ehurch ;  and  few  events  could  give  more  pleasure  to 
the  congregation  at  Farnham  than  to  see  them  again  occupied  by  the 
former  tenant,  and  to  hear  from  his  lips,  if  only  one  or  two  of  those  im- 
pressive appeals  which  have  so  often  been  heard  from  the  same/' 

LUNENBTJBG   PARISH,  RICHMOND   COUNTY. 

The  first  information  we  have  of  this  parish  is  from  communi- 
cations made  to  the  Bishop  of  London  by  the  Bev.  Mr.  Kay,  it? 
minister,  between  the  years  1740  and  1T50,  as  well  as  my  memory 
serves  me,  not  having  the  documents  before  me  at  this  time.  A 
most  painful  and  protracted  controversy  took  place  between  him 
and  a  portion  of  his  vestry, — especially  Colonel  Landon  Carter. 
Though  the  doors  of  the  church  were  closed  against  Mr.  Kay,  such 
was  the  advocacy  of  Mm  by  a  portion  of  the  vestry  and  many  of 
the  people  that  he  preached  in  the  churchyard  for  some  time.  The 
dispute  appears  to  have  been  about  tlie  right  of  Mr.  Kay  to  the 
parish  in  preference  to  another  who  was  desired  by  some  of  the 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  179 

vestry  and  people.  The  cause  was  carried  before  the  Governor 
and  Council,  and  from  thence  to  the  higher  court  in  England. 
The  sympathy  of  the  Commissary  and  the  clergy  appears  to  have 
been  with  Mr.  Kay.  How  it  was  finally  settled  in  the  English 
courts  does  not  appear,  but  we  find  Mr.  Kay  in  Cumberland  parish, 
Lunenburg  county,  in  the  year  1754.*  In  that  year  the  Rev.  Mr 
Simpson  becomes  minister  of  Lunenburg  parish,  Richmond  county. 
How  long  he  continues,  and  whether  any  one  intervenes  between 
him  and  the  Rev.  William  Giberne,  who  becomes  the  minister  in 
1762,  is  not  known.  The  name  and  memory  of  Mr.  Giberne  have 
come  down  to  our  times  with  considerable  celebrity.  The  first 
notice  I  have  of  him  is  in  a  letter  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  in  which, 
he  inveighs  with  severity  on  some  things  in  the  Church  of  Virginia* 
On  the  Bishop  of  London's  writing  to  Commissary  Robinson  con- 
cerning them,  the  Commissary  denies  the  charge  in  its  fulness,  and 
says  that  it  comes  with  ill  grace  from  Mr.  Giberne,  who  himself  sets 
an  ill  example,  being  addicted  to  card-playing  and  other  things 
unbecoming  the  clerical  character. 

All  the  accounts  I  have  received  of  him  correspond  with  this. 
He  was  a  man  of  talents,  of  great  wit  and  humour,  and  his  home  a 
pleasant  place  to  the  like-minded, — especially  attractive  to  the 
young.  He  lived  at  the  place  now  owned  by  the  Brockenbrough 
family,  near  Richmond  Court-House.  He  married  a  daughter  of 
Moore  Fauntleroy  and  Margaret  Micou.  Her  father  was  Paul 
Micou,  a  Huguenot  who  fled  from  Nantes  in  1711. f  In  ^e  follow- 
ing communication  from  a  friend  in  Richmond  county  there  is  more 
particular  mention  of  Mr.  Giberne,  in  connection  with  some  inte 
resting  particulars  about  the  two  churches  in  Lunenburg  parish. 

"  The  church  here,  which  I  remember,  was  situated  near  the  publie 
road,  near  our  court-house,  and  was  surrounded  by  large  and  beautiful 
trees,  affording  a  fine  shade  in  summer  to  those  visiting  the  church.  The 
ground  was  enclosed  by  a  brick  wall,  which  was  finally  overthrown  by  the 
growing  roots  of  a  magnificent  oak.  Like  most  of  the  old  churches  in  Vir- 
ginia, it  was  built  of  brick,  finished  in  the  best  manner,  and  cruciform  in 
shape  \  the  pulpit  was  very  elevated,  and  placed  on  the  south  side  at  an 

*  In  different  vestry-books  I  find  the  name  sometimes  Kay  and  at  others  Key. 
There  may  have  been  ministers  of  both  names. 

f  At  the  old  Port  Micou  estate  on  the  lUppahannock  may  still  be  seen  the  large, 
heavy,  iron-stone  OP  black  marble  tombstone  of  this  Paul  Micou,  the  first  of  the 
name  who  came  into  this  country.  By  reason  of  its  weight  and  the  lightness  of 
the  soil,  it  «™fe«  every  few  years  somewhat  beneath  the  earth,  but  is  raised  up  again. 
The  inscription  is  as  follows: — "  Here  lies  the  body  of  Paul  Micon,  who  departed  this 
life  the  2Sd  of  May,  1736,  in  the  seventy-eighth  year  of  his  age." 


180  OLD   CHtRCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

angle  near  the  centre  of  the  building.  The  aisles  were  floored  with  large 
stones,  square  and  smoothly  dressed,  and  the  pews  with  planks.  They 
were  high  at  the  sides  and  panelled,  and  better  suited  for  devotion  than  our 
churches  at  the  present  day.  The  church  was  claimed  by  an  individual, 
when  in  ruins,  and  the  materials  from  time  to  time  removed  and  used  for 
various  domestic  purposes. 

"  It  was  built,  according  to  the  recollection  of  an  individual  now  living, 
in  1737,  and  he  remembers  to  have  seen  the  date  marked  in  the  mortar, 
i  Built  in  1737.'  This  building  remained  until  about  1813,  when  its  walls 
were  thrown  down  by  the  outward  pressure  of  the  roof,  which  had  fallen 
from  decay.  The  Kev.  Isaac  Win.  Giberne  was  the  pastor  of  this  church. 
He  was  an  Englishman,  and  I  think  the  nephew  of  the  Bishop  of  Durham. 
1  ascertained  the  fact  from  an  inscription  in  an  old  Prayer-Book,  which 
was  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Giberne,  and  which,  after  his  death  came  into 
my  hands.  It  had  belonged  to  her  Majesty  Queen  Anne,  and  was  used 
by  "her  in  her  private  chapel :  on  her  demise  it  was  retained  by  her  chap- 
lain. The  inscription  further  stated  it  was  intended  to  be  presented  to  the 
1  Bodleian  Library/  in  which  the  Prayer-Books  of  two  of  the  crowned  heads 
of  England  had  been  preserved. 

"  Mr.  Giberne  commenced  his  services  in  this  church  in  January,  1762, 
as  we  learn  from  the  parish  register,  and  continued  to  officiate  in  this  and 
the  'Upper  Church/  as  it  was  called,  until  incapacitated  by  age.  He  was 
a  man  of  great  goodness  of  heart  and  Christian  benevolence,  highly  educated, 
well  read,  and  extensively  acquainted  with  the  ancient  and  English  classic 
writers. 

"After  an  interval  of  some  eight  or  ten  years  or  more,  Mr.  Giberne  was 
followed  in  his  pastoral  duties  by  the  Rev.  W.  George  Young,  an  English- 
man, who,  I  believe,  occupied  the  glebe  in  1800  or  1802.  I  am  unable  to 
learn  how  long  he  continued,  but  he  removed,  and  the  glebe,  like  many 
others,  was  sold  under  an  Act  of  Assembly. 

"  The  silver  vessels  consisted  of  a  massive  silver  tankard,  goblet,  and 
plate.  These  remained  in  the  keeping  of  our  family  until  sold  by  a  decree 
of  the  Court.  They  were  purchased  by  the  late  Colonel  John  Tayloe,  of 
Mount  Airy,  and  by  him  presented  to  St.  John's  Church,  Washington. 

"The  principal  families  attached  to  the  old  church  here  were  the  Car- 
ters, Tayloes,  Lees,  (Colonel  F.  L.  Lee,  of  Manakin,)  Beckwiths,  Neales, 
Garlands,  Belfields,  Broekenbroughs,  Rusts,  Balls,  Tomlins,  &c. 

"  The  '  Upper  Church/  as  it  was  commonly  called,  situated  in  the  upper 
part  of  this  county,  has  been  long  a  ruin,  the  spot  marked  only  by  the 
mounds  of  crumbling  bricks.  Mr.  Giberne  was  the  last  minister  who 
regularly  officiated  in  it.  The  families  chiefly  belonging  to  its  congrega- 
tion were  the  Fauntleroys,  Lees,  Belfields,  Beales,  Mitchells,  Jenningses, 
&c.  It  would  be  impossible  to  ascertain  at  this  time,  I  presume,  when 
this  church  was  built. 

"  There  was  but  one  other  church  in  £old  times'  in  the  county  of  Rich- 
mond :  it  was  Farnham  Church,  which  continued  in  tolerable  repair  until 
after  1800.  I  think  in  1802  there  was  regular  service  in  this  church  by 
a  Mr.  Broekenbrongh,  a  minister  of  the  Church,  a  remarkably  small  man, 
afi  I  recollect  him,  so  diminutive  that  he  required  a  block  in  the  pulpit  to 
stand  on.  He  did  not  live  at  the  glebe,  but  at  Cedar  Grove,  the  property 
of  a  Miss  McCall,  and  kept  a  grammar-school  there.  After  this  time  the 
church  became  dilapidated,  and  no  service  was  performed  in  it ;  in  truth, 
it  was  completely  desecrated,  and  served  as  a  shelter  for  cattle,  hogs,  and 


FAMILIES    OF    VIRGINIA.  181 

horses  for  many  years.  Its  walls,  however,  were  permitted  to  stand,,  and 
its  magnificent  oaks  allowed  to  grace  the  place  and  to  give  their  friendly 
shade  to  the  weary  traveller  who  halted  at  the  neighbouring  tavern  to  re- 
fresh himself  and  horse.  When  we  look  back  on  this  period  of  infidelity 
and  heathenism  in  this  county,  when  the  old  churches  were  pulled  down 
or  permitted  to  fall  to  decay,  when  no  religious  instruction  was  to  be  found, 
uo  declaration  of  the  Gospel  but  by  an  itinerant  preacher,  little  calculated 
to  awaken  the  slumbering  people,  we  are  led  to  wonder  how  the  land 
escaped  some  signal  mark  of  divine  vengeance, — that  some  calamity  had 
not  overshadowed  it  to  call  its  thoughtless  and  wicked  inhabitants  back  to 
the  Christian  fold. 

"I  have  never  heard  what  became  of  the  sacred  vessels  belonging  to 
this  church.  The  glebe  was  in  the  occupancy  of  Dr.  Thomas  Tarpley,  a 
well-educated  and  highly-polished  man;  how  it  came  into  his  possession  I 
never  knew, — probably  by  purchase  at  public  sale." 

After  the  Rev.  Mr.  Young,  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  commu- 
nication, I  know  of  no  minister  until  the  Rev.  Washington  Nelson, 
in  1834  or  1835,  who  took  charge  of  this  parish  in  connection  with 
those  of  North  Farnham  and  Cople.  At  his  death  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Ward  succeeded  to  all  three  of  the  parishes,  and  at  his  resignation, 
a  young  man,  whose  name  I  forget,  was  minister  of  Lunenburg  for 
part  of  a  year.  He  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Coffin  for  two 
years. 

The  most  remarkable  of  the  old  seats  in  this  parish,  known  to 
the  writer,  are  those  of  Sabine  Hall,  belonging  to  the  Carters,  and 
of  Mount  Airy,  belonging  to  the  Tayloes.  Having  in  a  preceding 
article  given  some  account  of  the  Carter  family,  which  has  so 
abounded  in  the  Northern  Neck,  I  subjoin  a  brief  genealogy  of  the 
Tayloes,  who  have  appeared  on  our  vestry-books  in  tlie  Northern 
Neck  from  their  first  settlement  to  the  present  time* 

THE  TAYLOE  FAMILY. 

"William  Tayloe,  (probably  Taylor  at  that  day,)  of  London,  emigrated 
to  Virginia  about  1650.  He  married  Anne,  a  daughter  of  Henry  Gorbin, 
(who  was  settled  in  King  and  Queen  county,)  the  ancestor  of  the  Corbins. 
John  Tayloe,  son  of  William  and  Anne,  married  Mrs,  Elizabeth  Lyde, 
daughter  of  Major  Gwyn,  of  Esses  county.  Their  children  were  William, 
Joha,  Betty,  and  Anne  Corbin.  The  first  died  young.  John  was  the 
founder  of  Mount  Airy.  Betty  married  Colonel  Richard  Corbin,  grand- 
son of  Henry  Corbin.  Anne  Gorbin  married  Mann  Page,  of  Mansfield, 
near  Frederieksburg. 

"  The  last-named  John  Tayloe,  of  Mount  Airy,  was  a  member  of  the 
Council  of  Virginia,  before  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  and  was  re-elected 
with  his  colleague  by  the  House  of  Burgesses  during  the  progress  of  the 
war.  He  died  suddenly  on  the  18th  April,  1779,  leaving  a  large  family. 
He  had  twelve  children,  of  whom  eight  daughters  and  one  son  survived 
him.  His  wife  was  Rebecca  Plater,  sister  of  the  Honourable  Governor 


182  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AKD 

George  Plater,  of  Maryland,  whom  he  married  in  1747.  She  died  in  1787 
Their  eight  daughters  married, — 1st,  Elizabeth,  to  Governor  Edward  Lloyd, 
in  1767,  of  Maryland ;  2d,  Rebecca,  to  Francis  Lightibot  Lee,  the  signer 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  in  1769 ;  &d,  Eleanor,  to  Balph 
"Warmly,  of  Middlesex,  in  1772  j  4th,  Anne  Gorbin,  to  Thomas  Lomax, 
of  Caroline,  in  1773 ;  5th,  Mary,  to  Mann  Page,  of  Spottsylvania,  in  1776; 
6th,  Catherine,  to  Landon  Carter,  of  Richmond  county,  in  1780 ;  7th, 
Jane,  to  Robert  Beverley,  of  Essex,  in  1791;  8th,  Sarah,  to  Colonel  Wm 
Augustine  Washington,  of  Westmoreland,  in  1799. 

"John,  son  of  the  foregoing  John  and  Rebecca,  third  of  the  name,  was 
born  in  1771,  the  only  son  in  a  family  of  twelve.  In  1792  he  married 
Anne,  daughter  of  Governor  Benjamin  Ogle,  of  Maryland.  He  died  in 
Washington  in  1828.  Their  children  were  fifteen,  of  whom  three  died 
young,  and  eleven  (six  sons  and  five  daughters)  survived  their  father. 
Their  mother  died  in  1855,  at  the  unusual  age  of  eighty-three.  Five  sons 
and  three  daughters  have  survived  her.  Their  eldest  son,  John,  entered 
the  navy,  and  was  distinguished  in  the  battles  of  the  Constitution  with  the 
Guerriere  and  with  the  Cyane  and  Levant.  After  the  first  action  the  State 
of  Virginia  presented  him  with  a  sword.  He  was  captured  in  the  Levant 
by  a  British  squadron  whilst  lying  at  Port  Praya,  Cape  de  Yerde  Islands. 
He  died  in  1824  at  Mount  Airy,  having  resigned,  shortly  before,  his  rank 
of  lieutenant  in  the  navy,  to  which  he  was  promoted  soon  after  his  first 
action.  Benjamin  Ogle  Tayloe,  the  second  son,  resides  in  Washington. 
Three  other  sons — William,  Edward,  and  George — reside  in  Virginia, 
and  one  in  Alabama, — Henry  Tayloe,  an  active  member  of  the  Church  in 
that  State.  John  Tayloe,  a  grandson,  resides  at  Chatterton,  in  the  county 
of  King  George/' 

From  the  earliest  accounts  of  this  family,  they  have  been  either 
warm  friends  of  the  Church,  or  in  full  communion  with  it.  Many 
of  the  male  members  of  the  family  have  been  active  and  liberal 
festrymen. 


FAMILIES  OF  VIRGINIA.  183 


ARTICLE  LXIII. 
Parishes  in  King  Greorge  Qounty* 

GrEORGE  county  was  taken  out  of  Richmond  county  in  tho 
year  1720,  at  T\hich  time  Richmond  county  extended  as  far  on  one 
side  of  the  Rappahannock  as  Essex  did  on  the  other,  which  was,  I 
believe,  near  the  Falls  of  the  Rappahannock  or  Fredericksburg, 
It  did  not  extend  from  the  Rappahannock  to  the  Potomac,  as  West- 
moreland and  King  George  now  do,  for  Westmoreland  and  Stafford* 
extended  along  the  Potomac,  while  Richmond  and  King  George 
lay  on  the  Rappahannock.  Formerly  there  were  two  parishes  in 
King  George, — Hanover  and  Brunswick,  lying  along  the  Rappa- 
hannock, the  latter  reaching  up  to  the  falls  at  Fredericksburg,  for 
we  find  Mr.  W.  Fitzhugh,  of  Chatham,  opposite  Fredericksburg, 
representing  Brunswick  parish  in  the  Conventions  of  1785  and  1786. 
In  1776,  the  boundaries  of  Stafford  and  King  George  were  changed, 
and  each  of  them  made  to  extend  from  river  to  river,  instead  of 
being  divided  by  a  longitudinal  line  running  east  and  west.  At 
this  time  St.  Paul's  parish,  and  part  of  Overwharton,  formerly  in 
Stafford,  were  thrown  into  King  George  county,  and  that  of  Bruns- 
wick parish  into  Stafford.  There  are,  therefore,  now  in  King 
George,  St.  Paul's  parish,  on  the  Potomac  side,  and  Hanover,  chiefly 
on  the  Rappahannock.  In  the  parish  of  Brunswick  there  was 
formerly  a  church  some  miles  below  Fredericksburg,  whose  ruins, 
or  the  traces  of  whose  foundation,  may  yet,  I  an}  told,  be  seen. 


*  Stafford  is  first  mentioned  among  the  counties  in  1666,  in  the  following  manner. 
It  seems  that>  besides  the  private  looms  of  weavers,  there  was  required  by  Act  of 
Assembly  a  public  one  in,  each  county,  with  certain  exceptions : — "  Provided  that 
the  executing  hereof  in  the  counties  of  Bappahannock,  Stafford,  Westmoreland, 
and  Northumberland,  who,  by  the  newness  of  their  ground,  pretend  themselves  in- 
capable of  TfnjtlriTig  provision  for  the  soon  employment  of  a  weaver,  be  respited  for 
fowre  years  after  the  date  hereof."  Prom  this  Act  we  may  see  what  was  the  state 
of  the  whole  Northern  Neck  of  Virginia  in  1666,  nearly  six^r  years  after  the  first 
settlement  of  the  Colony.  It  either  was  not,  or  pretended  not  to  be,  able  to  support 
one  weaver  at  public  expense.  It  is  pleasing  to  think  that  there  was  a  better  state 
uf  things  as  to  religion,  and  that  there  were  several  ministers  in  the  district  at  the 
above-mentioned  period. 


184  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

There  was  also  a  church  in  Falmouth  which  belonged  to  this  parish, 
and  in  which  I  have  preached  at  an  early  day  of  my  ministry. 

In  Hanover  parish  there  were,  from  1779  to  1796,  two  churches, 
—viz, :  Strother's,  between  Port  Conway  and  Oakenbrough,  and 
Round  Hill,  under  the  charge  of  the  ministers  of  the  parish. 
Until  the  year  1777,  Bound  Hill  Church  was  in  Washington  parish, 
Westmoreland,  but  certain  changes  in  the  boundaries  of  King 
George  and  Westmoreland  in  that  year  threw  Round  Hill  Church 
into  King  George  county  and  Hanover  parish.  As  we  have  but 
little  to  say  of  Hanover  parish,  we  will  say  it  at  once.  We  cannot 
ascertain  the  precise  time  of  its  establishment.  It  was  in  existence 
in  1720,  and  probably  established  in  that  year,  as  King  George 
was  then  cut  off  from  Richmond  county.  In  1753,  we  find  on  one 
of  our  lists  the  name  of  William  Davis  as  its  rector.  In  the  years 
1773,  1774,  and  1776,  we  find  the  Rev.  William  Davies.  But  in 
the  mean  time  the  Rev.  Mr.  Boucher  was  the  minister  of  the  parish 
for  some  yearb. 

We  have  nothing  on  any  of  our  lists,  or  in  the  vestry-book  of 
this  parish,  concerning  this  distinguished  man,  and  for  the  plain 
reason  that  we  have  no  list  or  vestry-book  covering  the  period  of 
his  ministry  in  Hanover  parish.  He  was  ordained  for  this  parish 
in  1762,  having  been  resident  in  Virginia  since  he  was  sixteen 
years  of  age,  and  probably  in  that  part  of  Virginia.  He  was  an 
intimate  friend  of  General  Washington,  and,  as  has  been  stated  in 
the  article  on  Caroline  county,  dedicated  a  volume  of  sermons  to 
Washington.  He  was  selected  by  the  General  as  a  travelling-com- 
panion and  guide  to  young  Custis,  son  of  Mrs.  Washington,  when 
it  was  contemplated  that  he  should  make  the  tour  of  Europe.  The 
following  extract  from  a  letter  of  General  Washington  on  the 
subject  will  at  the  same  time  explain  the  causes  of  the  relinquish- 
ment  of  this  plan,  and  show  the  amiableness  and  sound  judgment 
displayed  by  him  on  the  occasion.  Mr*  Boucher  was  the  tutor  to 
young  Custis  at  Annapolis,  in  the  year  1771,  when  the  letter  was 
written  of  which  the  following  is  an  extract : — 

u  Upon  the  whole,  it  is  impossible  for  me  at  this  time  to  give  a  more 
decisive  answer,  however  strongly  inclined  I  may  be  to  put  you  upon  a 
certainty  in  this  affair,  than  I  have  done;  and  I  should  think  myself  want- 
ing in  candour,  if  I  concealed  any  circumstance  from  you  which  leads  me 
to  fear  that  there  is  a  possibility,  if  not  a  probability,  that  the  whole 
design  may  be  totally  defeated.  Before  I  ever  thought  myself  at  liberty 
to  encourage  the  plan,  I  judged  it  highly  reasonable  and  necessary  that 
Ms  mother  should  be  consulted.  I  laid  your  first  letter  and  proposals 
before  her,  and  desired  that  she  would  reflect  well  before  she  resolved,  a*« 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  185 

an  unsteady  behaviour  might  be  a  disadvantage  to  you.  Her  determina- 
tion was,  that  if  it  appeared  to  be  his  inclination  to  undertake  this  tour 
and  it  should  be  judged  for  his  benefit,  she  would  not  oppose  it,  whatever 
pangs  it  might  give  her  to  part  with  him.  To  this  declaration  she  still 
adheres,  but  in  so  taint  a  manner,  that  I  think,  with  her  fears  and  his  in- 
difference, it  would  soon  be  declared  that  he  had  no  inclination  to  go.  I 
do  not  say  that  this  will  be  the  case.  I  cannot  speak  positively;  but,  as 
this  is  the  result  of  my  own  reflections  on  the  matter,  I  thought  it  but 
fair  to  communicate  it  to  you.  Several  causes  have,  I  believe^eoneurred 
to  make  her  view  his  departure,  as  the  time  approaches,  with  more  reluc- 
tance than  she  expected.  The  unhappy  situation  of  her  daughter  has  in 
some  degree  fixed  her  eyes  upon  him  as  her  only  hope.  To  what  I  have 
already  said?  I  can  only  add,  that  my  warmest  wishes  are  to  see  him  pro- 
secute a  plan,  at  a  proper  period,  which  I  may  be  sure  will  redound  to  his 
advantage,  and  that  nothing  shall  be  wanting  on  my  part  to  aid  and  assist 
him." 

It  seems  that  Mr.  Custis  preferred  an  early  marriage  to  a  Euro- 
pean tour,  and  so  the  matter  ended, 

We  return  from  this  digression  to  the  other  ministers  of  Hanover 
parish*  We  have  a  vestry-book  beginning  in  1779,  which  shows 
that  in  1780  the  Rev.  Rodham  Kennor  (an  old  Virginia  name)  was 
chosen  its  minister.  In  1785,  he  resigned  and  removed  to  his  farm 
in  Fauquier.  The  next  year  the  Rev.  John  Low  became  its  minister, 
and  continued  until  1796,  when  he  was  allowed  to  preside  in  the 
vestry  till  the  end  of  the  year,  on  condition  that  he  would  resign 
at  that  time,  which  he  did  in  a  letter  recorded  in  the  vestry-book. 
We  know  of  no  other  minister  being  in  this  parish  until  its  reor- 
ganization and  the  election  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Friend,  who  has  recently 
left  it.  The  following  list  of  vestrymen  from  1779  to  1796  will 
show  who  were  the  leading  friends  of  the  Church  in  that  parish. 
Messrs.  Piper,  Woffendall,  Kendall,  Jett,  Boon,  Lovall,  Marshall, 
Kirk,  Conway,  Washington,  Bernard,  Johnson,  Dade,  Stewart, 
Dishman,  Flood,  Oldham,  Berry.  Mr.  Johnson  was  reader  at 
Round  Hill  Church,  and  Mr.  Thornby  at  Strother's.  Two  orders 
on  the  vestry-book  serve  to  throw  light  on  the  manners  of  the 
parish.  One  directs  Mr.  Ashton  to  try  to  procure  four  locks  for 
the  glebe-house,  evidently  showing  that  there  was  difficulty  and 
uncertainty  about  it.  This  speaks  well  for  the  honesty  of  the 
times,  locks  being  so  little  used  that  they  were  hard  to  be  gotten. 
The  other  is  not  so  creditable  to  the  temperance  of  the  times  and 
parish,  as  it  directs  that  "forty  pounds  of  tobacco  be  paid  for  two 
quarts  of  brandy  for  burying  a  poor  woman," — that  is,  for  use  at 
the  funeral. 

A  few  words  will  suffice  for  the  history  of  the  parish  since  the 
year  1796.  Some  years  since,  a  number  of  families  in  the  upper 


186  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

part  of  it — the  Tayloes,  Masons,  Turners,  &c. — united  in  building 
a  neat  brick  church  near  the  court-house,  for  which  they  secured 
the  partial  services  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Friend,  by  which  means  a  very 
respectable  congregation  has  been  formed.  As  stated  above,  Mr 
Friend  has  recently  resigned  his  charge. 

Since  writing  the  above,  we  have  been  indebted  to  the  kindness 
and  diligence  of  one  or  two  friends  for  some  further  information 
concerning  this  parish,  obtained  from  the  old  records  of  the  court. 
In  the  years  1T25?  1727,  and  1737,  the  names  of  the  Rev.  Mr, 
Skaife,  Mr.  Edyard,  and  Mr,  Mackay,  appear  on  the  record,  though 
it  Is  not  known  with  what  parishes  they  were  connected.  The  fol- 
lowing were  the  names  of  vestrymen  between  the  years  1723  and 
1779: — John  Grimsley,  James  Kay,  William  Strother,  Rowland 
Thornton,  Thomas  Turner,*  John  Furguson,  Jos.  Strother,  Maxi- 
milian Robinson,  William  Thornton,  Joseph  Murdock,  Joseph  Jones, 
George  Tankersley,  George  Riding,  Thomas  Vivian,  Isaac  Arnold, 
Samuel  Skinker,  Harry  Turner,  Charles  Carter,  John  Triplett, 
Thomas  Jett,  Thomas  Hodges,  Richard  Payne,  Thomas  Berry, 
Horatio  Bade,  John  Skinker,  William  Robinson,  George  Marshall, 
John  Washington,  Townsend  Bade,  Robert  Stith,  Henry  Fitzhugh, 
Jr.,  Laurence  Washington,  Sen.,  John  Pollard,  William  Fitzhugh, 
Laurence  Ashton,  Thomas  Hood,  William  Newton,  William  Bruce, 
James  Kenyon,  John  Taliafero,  Joseph  Jones,  James  Hunton,  John 
Taliafero,  Jr.  Whether  all  these  belonged  to  Hanover  parish  I 
think  doubtful.  In  the  year  1744,  there  is  a  suit^ln  King  George 
Court  in  the  name  of  Henry  Downs  and  Zachary  Taylor,  (doubt- 
less the  ancestor  of  our  late  President,)  the  churchwardens  of  St. 
Thomas's  Church,  Orange  county. 

*  The  families  of  Tayloes  and  Turners  are  the  most  ancient  with  which  I  am 
acquainted  in  the  parish  of  Hanover.  Of  the  former  I  have  given  some  account  in 
my  article  on  Lunenburg  parish,  Kichmond  county.  The  first  of  the  Turners  was 
a,  physician  who  came  to  Virginia  about  1650  or  1660,  and  settled  in  the  very  region 
now  occupied  by  his  descendants,  on  the  banks  of  the  Rappahannock,  in  Hanover 
parish.  He  left  two  sons,  Harry  and  Thomas.  The  latter  died  young.  Harry  mar- 
ried the  only  surviving  daughter  of  Mr.  Nicholas  Smith,  of  *'  Smith's  Mount/*  in 
Westmoreland,  by  whom  he  became  possessed  of  that  estate,  which  he  bequeathed 
to  his  posterity,  and  which  has  gone  by  the  name  of  the  seat  of  the  Turner  family. 
He  and  his  wife  Elizabeth  are  both  buried  there,  as  are  also  their  parents.  The 
tombstones  still  remain  and  testify  of  them.  Mr.  Harry  Turner  left  only  one  son, 
Thomas,  who  married  a  daughter  of  Colonel  William  Fauntleroy,  of  Naylor's  Hole, 
in  Bichmond  county,  about  the  year  1767,  and  left  a  family  of  eight  children, — four 
sons  and  fonr  daughters.  The  sons  were  Henry,  Thomas,  Richard,  and  George, — 
the  descendants  of  whom,  as  well  as  of  the  daughters,  are  dispersed  throughout 
the  State;  a  number  of  them  living  in  King  George,  where,  as  we  have  said,  the 
first  ancestors  settled. 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  187 


BRUNSWICK  PARISH. 

A  short  notice  will  suffice  for  Brunswick  parish.  This  was  also 
in  existence  in  1720.  In  1754  and  1758,  the  Rev.  Daniel  McDo- 
nald was  its  minister.  In  the  year  1786,  we  find  the  parish,  or  a 
portion  of  it,  included  in  Stafford  county.  It  was  no  doubt  taken 
into  it  at  the  establishment  of  the  new  boundaries  between  it  and 
King  George,  in  the  year  1776.  I  have  already  mentioned  that 
there  was  a  church  a  few  miles  from  Frederieksburg,  within  the 
parish  of  Brunswick.  It  was  called  Muddy  Creek  Church,  and 
About  nine  miles  from  Fredericksburg.  Muddy  Creek  is  now  the 
ioundary-line  between  King  George  and  Stafford.  At  a  later 
period,  Lamb's  Creek  Church  was  the  church  of  Brunswick  parish. 
The  stepping-stone  at  the  door  bears  the  date  of  1782,  but  the 
church  may  have  been  built  before  that.  From  the  records  of  the 
eourt  we  find  that  a  Mr.  Anthony  Hainy  was  churchwarden  in  this 
parish  as  far  back  as  1784,  and  Mr.  Charles  Carter  and  John 
Champe  in  1739.  Mr.  Charles  Carter  was  also  vestryman  in  1750. 

ST.  PAUL'S   PAKISE,  KIHG   GEOEaE   COUNTY, 

Our  authority  for  the  earlier  part  of  the  history  of  this  parish  is 
a  vestry-book  beginning  in  1766,  during  the  rectorship  of  the  Bev. 
William  Stuart,  who,  according  to  the  Rev.  Robert  Rose,  was  a  man 
of  eloquence  and  popularity  and  high  character. 

There  is  also  a  register  of  the  marriages,  and  of  the  births,  bap- 
tisms, and  deaths  of  both  white  and  black.  Much  of  it  is  torn  out. 
Its  first  entry  is  in  1722.  At  that  time,  and  long  before,  the  Rev. 
David  Stuart  was  the  minister.  He  continued  to  be  so  until  his 
death,  in  1749,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  William  Stuart, 
who  was  probably  his  father's  assistant  for  some  time  before  his 
death.  The  son  died  in  1796.  The  earlier  part  of  my  mother's 
life  was  spent  under  his  ministry,  and  I  have  often  heard  her  speak 
in  high  praise  of  him.  Ho  was  in  bad  health  for  some  years  before 
his  death.  The  following  is  his  letter  of  resignation: — 

"  To  THE  YESTRY  OF  ST.  PAUL'S  PARISH. 

u  GENTLEMEN  : — I  lave  been  curate  of  iMs  parish  upward  of  forty 
years.  My  own  conscience  "bears  me  witness,  and  I  trust  my  parishioners 
(though  many  of  them  have  fallen  asleep)  will  also  witness,  that  until  age 
and  infirmities  disabled  me  I  always,  so  far  as  my  infirmities  would  allow, 
fafthfolly  discharged  my  duties  as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel.  It  has  given 
me  many  hours  of  anxious  concern  that  the  services  of  the  Church  should 
be  so  long  discontinued  on  my  account.  The  spirit  indeed  is  willing,  but 


1<$8  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AXD 

the  flesh  Is  weak.  I  therefore  entreat  the  favour  of  you  to  provide  me  a 
successor  as  soon  as  you  can,  that  divine  service  may  be  discontinued  no. 
longer;  and  at  the  end  of  the  year  the  glebe  shall  be  given  up  to  him  by 
your  affectionate  servant, 

"  WILLIAM  STUART." 

It  is  most  probable  that  the  father's  term  of  service  was  equal 
to  that  of  his  son's ;  and  if  so,  we  should  go  back  to  near  the  be- 
ginning of  the  century  with  the  ministry  of  the  two, — and  that 
would  carry  us  to  a  period  not  far  from  that  in  which  the  first  of 
the  Fitzhughs — Mr.  William  Fitzhugh — of  this  region  wrote  to 
the  Bishop  of  London  urging  him  to  send  them  a  sober  and  pious 
minister.  Mr.  Fitzhugh  lived  at  Bedford,  in  what  is  now  King 
George  but  was  then  Westmoreland;  and  there  was  a  church  and 
graveyard  near  his  residence  (Bedford)  on  the  Potomac.  A  second 
church  was  built  near  the  present,  and  a  few  miles  only  from  the 
first.  Before  closing  our  notice  of  Mr.  William  Stuart,  I  must  ex- 
tract from  the  record  an  entry  which  shows  that,  though  he  lived 
some  years  after  Ms  resignation,  his  zeal  for  theOhurch  did  not  abate : 
though  unable  to  preach,  he  was  able  and  willing  to  give.  When 
a  subscription  was  raised  for  his  successor,  Mr.  Parsons,  (the  Esta- 
blishment being  put  down,)  his  name  stands  first  on  the  list  for  ten 
pounds, — no  other  exceeding  three.  The  voluntary  system  was 
then  in  its  infancy,  and  only  fifty-seven  pounds  were  raised ;  but 
this  was  as  much  as  the  most  of  the  parishes  paid  their  ministers 
under  the  Establishment.  Mr*  Parsons  was  never  admitted  to 
Priests'  Orders:  for  what  reason  I  am  unable  to  say.  It  is  not 
wonderful  that  on  this  account  the  religious  condition  of  the  parish 
should  have  rapidly  declined,  and  at  his  death,  in  1808,  was  in  so 
deplorable  a  state.  The  house  of  worship,  which,  at  successive 
periods  from  the  year  1T66,  had  been  begun,  completed,  and  re- 
paired, and  become  one  of  the  best  of  the  cruciform  churches  in 
Virginia,  was  permitted  to  fall  into  ruins, — except  its  well-built 
walls.  In  the  year  1838,  I  gave  the  following  account  of  a  visit 
paid  to  it  many  years  before : — 

*k  On  Thursday  and  Friday,  services  were  performed  in  St.  Paul's 
Church,  King  George  county.  I  preached  in  the  morning  of  each  Gay, 
and  Mr.  Nelson  and  Mr*  Friend  in  the  afternoon.  Here  I  baptized  three 
children  and  confirmed  two  persons  and  administered  the  Communion. 
About  twenty-six  years  ago,  (in  the  year  1812  or  1813,)  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Norris  and  myself  visited  this  place  together.  St.  Paul's  was  then  in  ruin?. 
The  roof  was  ready  to  fail ;  and  not  a  window,  door,  pew,  or  timber  remained 
below.  Nevertheless,  notice  was  given  that  we  would  preach  there.  A 
rude,  temporary  pulpit  or  stand  was  raised  at  one  angle  of  the  cross,  and 


FAMILIES    OF    VIRGINIA.  189 

from  that  we  performed  service  and  aidressed  the  people.  On  the  night 
before  the  meeting  a  heavy  rain  had  fallen?  and  the  water  was  in  small 
pools  here  and  there  where  the  floor  once  was,  so  that  it  was  difficult  to 
find  a  dry  spot  on  which  the  attendants  might  stand.  Such  was  its  con- 
dition twenty-six  years  ago,  and  thus  did  it  continue  for  some  years  after, 
until  the  Legislature  granted  leave  to  citizens  of  the  county  to  convert  it 
into  an  academy.  This  being  done,  it  was  used  conjointly  as  a  seminary 
of  learning  and  place  of  worship.  At  length,  the  seminary  being  neglected, 
and  the  house  useless  for  purposes  of  education,  as  well  as  inconvenient  for 
public  worship,  the  neighbours  petitioned  the  Legislature  to  restore  it  to 
its  rightful  owners  and  original  purposes ;  which  being  done,  it  was  con- 
verted back  again  into  a  temple  of  God, — one  part  of  it  being  diyided 
into  three  small  rooms  for  the  residence  of  a  minister,  and  the  other  part — 
three-fourths  of  the  whole  house — being  handsomely  fitted  up  for  public 
worship.  It  is  now  one  of  the  most  convenient  and  delightful  churches  in 
Virginia/'* 

The  following  extract  from  the  letters  of  a  friend  and  relative 
in  King  George,  (Dr.  Abraham  Hooe,)  who  has  long  faithfully 
served  as  vestryman  of  the  parish,  and  who  has  carefully  examined 
its  records,  will  complete  our  notice  of  it : — 

"  At  a  meeting  of  the  vestry  on  the  19th  of  January,  1797,  the  re- 
signation was  accepted  by  the  following  order: — 'That  the  Be v. William 
Stuart  having  resigned  as  rector  of  St.  Paul's  parish,  and  having  petitioned 
the  vestry,  to  appoint  him  a  successor,  we,  the  vestry  of  said  parish,  do 
receive  the  Eev.  John  Parsons  to  officiate  as  Beacon  agreeably  to  the 
canons  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church/ 

"  Mr.  Parsons  survived  until  some  time  in  1808,  as  I  learned,  I  sup- 
pose it  was  subsequent  to  his  death  that  the  church  went  into  ruins.  Then 
the  glebes  were  sold,  and  the  very  life  of  the  Church  here  seems  to  have 
gone  out.  During  the  interval  between  the  death  of  Mr.  Parsons  and 
1817,  you  and  others  would  occasionally  come  and  minister  to  our  fathers 
and  mothers,  and  afford  them  the  opportunity  of  placing  their  dear  chil- 
dren in  covenant  with  their  G-od;  and  I  believe  the  late  Dr.  Keith,  of  the 
Seminary, — at  that  time  a  private  tutor  in  the  parish, — was  in  the  habifc 
of  lay-reading  within  the  ruins.  But  these  ruins  were  not  only  used  for 
occasional  religious  services  ,*  they  were  a  resort  (for  shelter  they  furnished 
none)  for  the  beasts  of  the  field  as  well  as  for  the  soldiers  of  the  camp,  and 
furnished  material  for  plunder  to  all  the  ruthless  of  the  land.  In  men- 
tioning the  kindness  of  those  who  would  come  among  us,  I  cannot  omit 
to  refer  to  that  of  the  Rev.  Johu  McGuire,  who  had  so  often  taken  part  in 


*  An  old  African  woman,  who,  in  her  youth,  had  been  brought  to  Virginia  and 
piously  brought  tip  in  some  good  family,  near  St.  Paulas,  and  carried  there  every 
Sunday  and  tanght  to  join  in  the  servioe,  became  so  attached  to  the  place  and  mode 
of  worship,  that  after  the  church  was  deserted  of  minister  and  people,  and  her 
fellow-servants  were  all  going  to  o&er  meetings  and  joining  in  other  ways  of  praying, 
used  regularly  to  go  to  the  old  place  and  sit  upon  one  of  the  naked  sleepers  by  her- 
self, for  some  time  every  Sabbath.  Upon  being  questioned  and  perhaps  ridiculed 
for  this,  she  said  it  did  her  more  good  to  go  to  the  old  church  and  think  over  by 
herself  the  old  prayers  she  was  used  to,  than  to  go  into  any  of  the  new  ways. 


190  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

those  c  associations'  which,  though  of  course  less  frequent,  at  one  time 
seemed  to  be  looked  for  with  almost  the  saine  regularity  as  the  stated 
services  of  the  Church,  and  with  no  les^  interest.  On  the  18th  of  May, 
1810,  a  vestry  was  a<rain  organized,  and  Bichard  Stuart  and  Townshend 
S.  Bade,  M>n  and  grandson  of  the  late  rector,  Mr.  Stuart,  were  appointed 
delegates  to  the  Convention  to  be  held  in  Richmond,  thus  reorganizing 
the  parish  after  an  interval  of  so  many  years.  The  vestry  elected  con- 
sisted of  Kiehard  Stuart,  Townshend  S.  Bade,  Abraham  B.  Hooe,  Lang- 
borne  Dade,  John  J.  Stuart,  William  F.  Grymes,  Cadwallader  I.  Bade, 
and  Charles  Massey,  Sen. ;  but  not  until  the  llth  of  December,  1817, 
were  the  services  of  a  minister  obtained.  Then  the  Rev.  Joseph  R.  An- 
drews, also  a  private  tutor  in  the  neighbourhood,  was  elected  as  rector. 
This  gentle  and  godly  man  officiated  in  the  Academy  and,  I  believe,  at 
King  George  Court-House,  as  well  as  at  Port  Royal,  for  several  years,  when, 
feeling  himself  called  to  the  work  of  missions,  (honoured  of  Heaven,)  he 
left  his  native  land  to  find  an  early  martyr's  grave  on  the  unfriendly  shore 
of  Africa,  and  I  have  the  pleasant  recollection  of  having  helped  him  to 
pack  his  little  all  in  my  father's  house. 

u  In  18-2,  the  Rev.  Josias  Clapham  was  called  to  the  charge  of  this 
parish,  and  his  last  official  signature  on  the  vestry-book  bears  date  May  3, 
1824.  How  long  subsequently  he  may  have  continued  in  charge  does  not 
appear,  and,  being  from  home  for  several  years  about  that  time,  I  do  not  know 
myself.  He,  however,  preached  in  Washington  parish,  Westmoreland 
county,  and  in  a  small  meeting-house  near  Round  Hill  Church  in  this 
county,  for  some  years  afterward,  when  he  removed  to  Halifax  county, 
from  which  time  his  history  is  unknown  to  me  further  than  to  be  able  to 
say  I  am  sure  he  has  received  the  reward  of  the  righteous,  for  he  was  a 
good  man  and  a  faithful  and  strict  follower  of  his  Lord  and  Master.  Even 
the  days  just  spoken  of  were  days  of  destitution  with  us;  but,  as  in  the 
days  of  the  rains,  so  in  those  of  our  destitution,  one  and  another  minister 
of  our  Church  would  once  and  again  come  to  preach  the  word  to  us ;  and 
none  were  more  kind  and  true  in  so  doing  than  the  Rev.  Charles  Mann, 
now  of  this  diocese,  but  then  rector  of  William  and  Mary  parish,  just 
across  the  Potomac  River,  in  Charles  county,  Maryland,  the  grateful  re- 
collection of  which  kindness  can  only  cease, with  the  lives  of  those  of  us 
who  remember  it. 

a  It  was  also  customary  in  those  days  for  the  Methodists  to  have  stated 
appointments  to  preach  at  the  Academy,  as  did  occasionally  the  Baptists 
and  Presbyterians,  up  to  the  time  of  the  Repeal  Act  restoring  to  us  our 
church,  On  the  llth  of  January,  1828,  the  Rev.  Edward  W.  Peet,  now 
at  Des  Moines,  Iowa,  was  chosen  minister  of  the  parish.  He,  I  think,  had 
been  at  first,  in  1827,  sent  to  us  by  the  Diocesan  Missionary  Society,  and, 
having  been  elected  as  above,  he  continued  our  minister  until  1830,  when 
he  resigned,  to  take  charge  of  St.  John's  Church,  Richmond,  and  was 
succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Goldsmith,  who  was  elected  on  the  20th  of 
August  of  that  year.  It  was  mainly  owing  to  the  exertions  of  Mr.  Peet 
that  the  restoration  of  the  church  to  its  former  and  rightful  proprietors  may 
be  attributed,  as  was  certainly  the  new  roofing  of  Lamb's  Creek,  mentioned 
above.  During  his  ministry  there  is  reason  to  believe  much  interest  in  the 
cause  of  religion  was  awakened  among  us,  and  from  that  time  on,  the 
borders  of  the  Church  have  been  enlarged.  The  Rev,  Mr.  Goldsmith  con- 
tinued in  charge  of  our  parish  and  of  Lamb's  Creek  united,  most  of  the 
time  until  his  resignation  of  the  former  in  April,  1837;  and  it  was  during 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  191 

his  ministry  that  the  consecration  of  the  church  took  place.  On  the  22d 
of  July  following,  the  Bev.  Charles  Goodrich,  Beacon,  was  chosen  as  rector 
of  this  and  Lamb's  Creek  Churches,  and  entered  on  his  duties  on  the  1st 
of  October,  1887.  Of  his  services  among  us  I  need  only  say  his  praise  i? 
on  all  our  lips,  and  the  love  of  him  fills  all  our  hearts.  He  left  us  at  the 
end  of  a  year  for  New  Orleans,  where  he  has  been  faithfully  labouring  i* 
his  Master's  cause.  From  October,  1838?  to  the  fall  of  1840,  we  werfe 
without  the  regular  services  of  the  Church.  Repeated  unavailing  attempts 
were  made  to  secure  them,  and  in  the  mean  time  our  kind  and  good  neigh- 
bour, the  Eev.  William  Friend,  as  he  always  has  done  in  our  need,  would 
come  among  us  and  minister  to  us,  as  his  convenience  would  allow  or  cir- 
cumstances might  require.  On  the  26th  of  June,  1840,  the  Rev.  John 
Martin,  now  of  Maryland,  was  elected,  and  continued  as  minister  of  this 
parish  and  Washington  parish,  in  Westmoreland,  until  July,  1844,  when 
he  resigned,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Lewis  Walke,  Deacon.  Diffi- 
culty in  maintaining  a  minister  in  conjunction  with  other  parishes  having 
become  manifest,  it  was  determined  to  endeavour  to  do  so  ourselves,  and 
Mr.  Walke's  services  were  obtained  for  our  parish  exclusively,  and  he 
continued  to  officiate  for  us  most  faithfully  until  the  summer  of  1848,  when 
the  parish  was  again  vacant  until  the  fall  of  1851,  when  the  Rev.  B.  B. 
Leacock  took  charge  of  it,  and  we  were  favoured  with  his  valuable  services 
for  one  year,  when  he  resigned,  owing  to  ill  health,  as  well  as  with  a  view 
to  a  mission  to  Africa,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Joseph  A.  Russell, 
our  present  rector.  Of  the  glebes  I  can  only  say  they  were  sold  after  the 
death  of  the  last  incumbent,  Mr.  Parsons,  and  as  much  of  the  proceeds  of 
the  sales  as  was  needful  were  appropriated  as  before  referred  to, — the  re- 
mainder being  now  a  fund  in  the  hands  of  a  board  of  school-commissioners 
for  the  county,  to  aid  in  a  system  of  education  established  under  a  late  Act 
of  the  Legislature.  The  earliest  notice  of  the  plate  of  this  parish  is  an 
entry  on  the  vestry-book  as  follows : — <  On  the  4th  day  of  June,  1802,  the 
following  articles  of  church-plate  belonging  to  this  parish, — viz. :  one  large 
silver  can,  a  silver  chalice  and  bread-plate, — were  deposited  in  the  care  of 
Mr.  John  Parsons,  the  then  incumbent. 

"  c  Signed,  TOWNSEND  DADE,  Warden.'  " 

These  same  articles  of  plate  are  now  in  possession  of  the  parish, 
and  I  am  sure  are  familiar  to  you.  They  had  been,  at  some  period 
prior  to  the  above  date,  the  gift  of  Colonel  Henry  Fitzhugh,  of 
Stafford,  in  this  county,  as  appears  from  the  following  inscription 
on  each  piece:— "Given  by  Henry  Fitzhugh,  of  Stafford  county, 
St.  Paul's  parish,  Gent.,  for  the  use  of  your  church."  There  are 
also  a  large  Bible  and  Prayer-Book  belonging  to  the  parish.  The 
first  has  the  following  inscription  in  gilt  letters  on  the  back: — 
"Given  for  the  use  of  the  church  in  St.  Paul's  parish,  by  the  Rev. 
Wm.  Stuart,  rector  of  the  same,  1762."  It  is  a  Cambridge  edition, 
appointed  by  his  Majesty's  special  command  'to  be  read  in  churches, 
"Cum  privilegm"  and  its  dedication  is,  "To  our  most  Ugh  and 
mighty  Prince  James,  by  the  grace  of  God  King  of  Great  Britain, 
France,  and  Ireland,  Defender  of  the  Faith,  tie  translators  of  the 


192  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

Bible  wish  grace,  mercy,  and  peace,  through  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ"  The  inscription  on  the  Prayer-Book  Is,  "Presented  to 
St.  Paul's  Church,  King  George  county,  by  Miss  Jane  S.  Parke, 
1831."  Miss  Parke  was  great  grand-daughter  to  the  Rev.  William 
Stuart,  the  former  rector. 

p. S.— Since  the  foregoing  was  written,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Russell  has 
left  the  parish,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Stuart  has  taken  his  place. 

The  following  is  the  list  of  vestrymen  of  this  parish  from  the  year 
1720  to  the  present  time: — 

Richard  Bernard,  John  Hooe,  Richard  Foote,  Captain  John  Alex- 
ander, Captain  Baldwin  Dade,  Colonel  Henry  Fitzhugh,  Jerard  Fowke, 
John  Stith,  Cadwallader  Dade,  John  Stewart,  John  Alexander,  Jr., 
Francis  Thornton,  John  Washington,  Thomas  Pratt,  Thomas  Bunhury, 
(Thomas  Stribling,  reader,)  Henry  Fitzhugh,  Jr.,  Wm.  Fitzhugh,  Wm. 
Fitzhugh,  Jr.,  Samuel  Washington,  Laurence  Washington,  Townsend 
Bade,  in  the  place  of  Samuel  Washington,  who  removed  in  1770;  John 
Berryrnan,  in  1771,  in  place  of  William  Fitzhugh,  removed  out  of  the 
county;  Robert  Washington,  Andrew  Grant,  Robert  Stith,  W.  GK  Stuart, 
William  Hooe,  Daniel  Fitzhugh,  Wm.  Thornton,  Wm.  Stith,  Henry  Fitz- 
hugh, Robert  Yates,  Wm.  Stork,  Wm.  Quarles,  Thomas  Short,  Benjamin 
G-rymes,  Thomas  Washington,  Rice  W.  Hooe,  John  B.  Fitzhugh,  John 
Waugh,  Langhorne  Dade,  William  Stone,  Henry  A.  Asliton,  Charles 
Stuart,  J.  K.  Washington,  Abraham  B.  Hooe;  J.  J.  Stuart,  William  F. 
Gryiues,  Charles  Massey,  J.  Queensbury,  Robert  Chesley,  Needam  Wash- 
ington, Alexander  Keech,  Francis  C.  Fitzhugh,  B.  0.  Tayloe,  Thomas 
Smith,  Dr.  Robert  Parsons,  G.  B.  Alexander,  Henry  Mustin,  Grustavus 
B.  Alexander,  Hezekiah  Potts,  T.  L.  Lomax,  Jacob  W.  Stuart,  Henry 
T.  Washington,  Drary  B.  Fitzhugh,  Benjamin  R.  Grrymes,  John  T.  Wash- 
ington, W.  E.  Stuart,  M.  Tenent. 

AN  ACCOUNT   OF  THE   FITZHTJGH   FAMILY;    ESPECIALLY  OF  THE 
FIRST  ANCESTOK,  WILLIAM   FITZHUGH. 

The  Fitzhugh  family  is  a  very  ancient  and  honourable  one  in 
England.  Some  of  its  members  were  high  in  office  and  favour 
during  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries.  The  name  is  a  com- 
bination of  the  two  names  Fitz  and  Hugh.  Sometimes  one,  some- 
times the  other,  would  precede,  until  at  length  they  were  united  in 
Fitzhugh.  The  first  who  settled  in  this  country  was  William  Fitz- 
hugh. His  father  was  a  lawyer  in  London,  and  himself  of  that 
profession.  He  settled  in  Westmoreland  county,  Virginia,  when  a 
young  man,  and  married  a  Miss  Tucker,  of  that  county.  He  was 
born  in  the  year  1650,  and  died  in  1701.  He  left  five  sons, — Wil- 
liam, Henry,  Thomas,  Greorge,  and  John^ — between  whom,  at  his 
death,  he  divided  54,054  acres  of  land  in  King  George,  Stafford, 
and  perhaps  Essex.  His  sons  and  their  descendants  owned  the 


.  FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  193 

seats  called  Eagle-nest  and  Bedford  in  King  George,  and  Bellaire 
and  Boscobel  in  Stafford,  He  had  one  daughter  named  Rosamond, 
who  married  Colonel  Oberton,  of  Westmoreland,  but  died  without 
issue.  His  son  William  married  Miss  Lee,  of  Westmoreland. 
Henry  married  Miss  Cooke,  of  Gloucester.  Thomas  and  George 
married  daughters  of  Colonel  George  Mason,  of  Stafford,  and  John, 
Miss  McCarty,  of  Westmoreland.  Prom  these  have  sprung  all  the 
families  of  Fitzhughs  in  Virginia,  Maryland,  and  Western  New 
York.  The  Rev.  Robert  Rose  married  Ann,  the  daughter  of  Henry 
Fitzhugh,  of  Eagle-nest,  in  the  year  1740.  She  lived  to  the  year 
1789,  surviving  her  husband  thirty-five  years.  There  are  some 
things  in  the  life  and  character  of  the  father  of  this  large  family 
of  Fitzhughs  worthy  to  be  mentioned  for  the  benefit  and  satisfac- 
tion of  his  posterity.  I  draw  them  from  his  pious  and  carefully- 
written  will,  and  from  a  large  manuscript  volume  of  his  letters,  a 
copy  of  which  was  some  years  since  gotten  from  the  library  of  Cain- 
bridge,  Massachusetts,  by  one  of  his  descendants,  and  which  is  now 
in  the  rooms  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Virginia. 

It  appears  that  he  was,  during  the  period  that  he  exercised  his 
profession,  an  eminent  and  most  successful  lawyer,  and  published 
in  England  a  work  on  the  laws  of  Virginia.  He  was  much  engaged 
in  the  management  of  land-causes  for  the  great  landholders,  whethei 
residing  in  England  or  America.  He  was  counsellor  for  the  cele- 
brated Robert  Beverley,  the  first  of  the  name,  and  who  was  perse 
cuted  and  imprisoned  for  too  much  independence.  He  transacted 
business  for,  and  purchased  lands  from,  Lord  Culpepper,  when  he 
held  a  grant  from  King  Charles  for  all  Virginia.  In  all  these 
transactions  he  appears  to  have  acted  with  uprightness  and  without 
covetousness,  for  in  his  private  letters  to  his  friends  he  speaks  of 
being  neither  in  want  nor  abundance,  but  being  content  and 
happy ;  though  before  he  died  he  acquired  large  tracts  of  lands 
at  a  cheap  rate.  The  true  cause  of  this  was  his  being  a  sincere 
Christian.  This  appears  from  his  letters  to  his  mother  and  sister, 
to  whom  he  remitted  pecuniary  assistance  according  to  his  ability, 
increasing  it  as  his  ability  increased.  The  following  brief  letter  to 
his  mother  in  the  year  1694  will  exhibit  his  filial  and  pious  dispo- 
sition:—  5 

"  BEAK  MOTHER: — I  heartily  condole  with  you  in  your  present  sickness 
and  indisposition,  which  your  age  now  every  day  contracts.  God's  grace 
will  make  you  bear  it  patiently,  to  your  comfort,  his  glory,  and  your  ever- 
lasting salvation.  I  eannot  enough  thank  you  for  the  present  of  yoTir 
choice  Bible.  The  money  that  you  say  you  had  present  occasion  for  1 

VOL,  IL— 18 


194  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AN1? 

have  ordered  Mr.  Cooper  to  enlarge,  and  you  will  see  by  his  letter  that  it 
is  doubled.  Before  I  was  ten  years  old,  as  I  am  sure  you  will  remember, 
I  looked  upon  this  life  here  as  but  going  to  an  inn,  and  no  permanent 
being.  By  God's  grace  I  continue  the  same  good  thoughts  and  notions., 
therefore  am  always  prepared  for  my  dissolution,  which  I  can't  be  per- 
suaded k  prolong  by  a  wish.  $"ow,  dear  mother,  if  you  should  be  neces- 
sitated for  eight  or  ten  pound  extraordinary,  please  to  apply  to  Mr.  Cooper, 
and  he  upon  sight  of  this  letter  will  furnish  it  to  you." 

He  adds  a  postcrzpt  to  the  letter,  saying,  "My  sister  died  a  true 
penitent  of  the  Church  of  England.'7 

His  sister  had  come  over  to  America  at  his  instance  some  years 
before  and  married  here,  but  died  without  children.  Other  letters 
to  his  mother,  who  it  seems  was  much  afflicted  with  some  troubles, 
which  are  not  mentioned,  he  writes  in  a  very  consoling  manner, 
bidding  her  regard  her  sorrows  as  from  Heaven,  and  thanks  her  for 
pious  instruction  of  him.  His  habits  were  strictly  temperate.  In 
writing  to  a  friend  who  was  much  afflicted  with  the  gout,  he  tells 
him  the  secret  of  his  freedom  from  it, — viz. :  that  he  never  was  ad- 
dicted to  the  orgies  of  Bacchus,  or  to  the  adoration  of  Ceres  or 
Venus,  never  courted  unlawful  pleasures,  avoided  feasting  and  the 
surfeit  thereof,  and  bids  him  tell  the  physician  this. 

Mr.  Fitzhugh  was  not  merely  a  moral  man,  but  a  sincerely  reli- 
gious man,  beyond  the  measure  of  that  day.  He  is  not  ashamed 
in  one  of  his  legal  opinions  to  quote  Scripture  as  the  highest  author- 
ity. He  was  a  leading  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  his 
parish.  Through  him  presents  of  Communion-plate  and  other  things 
from  English  friends  were  made  to  the  parish.  Referring  to  the 
unworthiness  of  many  of  the  ministers  who  came  over  from  Eng- 
land, he  communicated  with  Ms  friends  and  with  the  Bishop  of 
London^  asking  that  sober^  reputable^  and  educated  men  might  be 
sent  over  instead  of  such  as  did  come.  All  this  appears  from  pas- 
sages in  his  letters  to  England.  But,  were  there  none  of  these 
letters  extant,  the  following  extract  from  his  will  would  testify  to 
Ms  sound  and  evangelical  views  of  our  blessed  religion. 

Extract  from  the  will  of  Colonel  William  Fitzhugh,  of  Stafford  county, 
Virginia,  who  died  in  October,  1701*     He  was  the  parent  of  the  Fitz- 
hugh  family  in  Virginia,  and  the  patentee  of  Ravensworth; — 
"At  a  court  held  for  Stafford  county,  December  10,  1701.     Present 
her  Majesty^ s  Justices  for  said  county. 

"In  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  Trinity  in  Unity? 
Unity  in  Trinity,  Three  Persons  and  One  God,  blessed  forever.  Amen- 
I,  William  Fitzhugh,  of  Stafford  county,  in  Virginia,  being  by  God's  grace 
bound  for  England,  and  knowing  the  frailty  and  uncertainty  of  men's  lives, 
and  being  at  present  in  perfect  health  and  memory,  do  now  ordain,  consti- 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  195 

tnte,  and  appoint  this  my  last  will  and  testament,  revoking  all  other  and 
former,  or  other  wills,  this  5th  day  of  April,  1701. 

"Imprimis:  I  recommend  my  soul  into  the  hands  of  God,  through  the 
mediation  and  intercession  of  my  blessed  Saviour  and  Eedeemer,  hoping 
by  the  merits  of  his  death  to  have  my  sins  washed  away  in  his  bloocl 
nailed  to  his  cross,  and  buried  in  his  grave,  and  by  his  merits  and  passioj 
to  obtain  everlasting  life ;  therefore,  now  do  bequeath  and  dispose  such 
estate  as  it  hath  pleased  God  to  bestow  in  his  mercy  upon  me,  after  this 
manner  following, 

"  After  they  have  disposed  of  my  body  to  decent  interment,  without 
noise,  feasting  and  drink,  or  tumult,  which  I  not  only  leave  to,  but  enjoin, 
my  executors,  hereafter  named,  to  see  decently  performed. 

"Item:  I  give  and  bequeath  to  niy  eldest  son,  William  Fitzhugh,  all 
these  tracts  of  land  following/3  &c.  &c. 

(Then  follow  the  bequests  tc  the  various  members  of  the  family.) 
It  is  evident  that  in  the  foregoing  will  there  is  much  more  than 
the  usual  formal  recognition  of  a  God  and  future  state.  Here  is 
to  be  seen  a  true  acknowledgment  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  and  an 
entire  reliance  on  the  merits  of  the  Saviour's  death  and  the  cleansing 
of  his  blood,  such  as  no  orthodox  divine  could  better  express. 

JSTone  can  doubt  but  that  the  recorded  sentiments  and  the  con- 
sistent life  of  this  father  of  a  numerous  family  must  have  had  it* 
effect  upon  many  of  his  posterity.  I  have  known  many,  and  hearfj 
of  others,  who  imbibed  his  excellent  spirit,  and  not  in  Virginia  only, 
but  in  other  States,  to  which  they  have  emigrated.  One  there  was 
too  well  known  to  the  writer  of  these  lines,  and  to  whom  for  Chris- 
tian nurture  and  example  he  was  too  much  indebted,  ever  to  b€ 
forgotten.  A  beloved  mother  was  a  lineal  descendant  of  this  good 
man,  born  and  nurtured  on  the  soil  which  Ms  economy  and  dili- 
gence had  bequeathed  to  a  numerous  posterity.  To  her  example 
and  tuition,  under  Grod,  am  I  indebted  for  having  escaped  the  snaref 
laid  for  the  youth  of  our  land  and  for  having  embraced  the  bles&ei 
religion  of  Christ*  And  if  I  may  be  permitted  to  single  out  one  from 
the  numerous  families  of  the  name,  it  must  needs  be  that  one  which 
was  nearest  to  me,  and  with  which  I  have  been  most  intimately 
acquainted  from  my  childhood  up.  The  name  of  Mr.  William 
Fitzhugh,  of  Chatham,  in  tbe  county  of  Stafford,  as  a  perfect  gen- 
tleman, as  a  most  hospitable  entertainer,  and  a  true  son  of  Virginia 
in  her  Councils,  will  not  soon  be  forgotten.  His  name  is  not  only 
an  the  journals  of  our  civil  Legislature,  but  may  be  seen  on  the 
ecclesiastical  records  of  our  Church,  among  those  who  were  the  last 
to  give  up  ber  regular  assemblies  and  the  hope  of  her  prosperity 
m  her  darkened  days.  Nor  is  it  unlawful  to  proceed  to  some  brief 
notice  of  the  two  children  who  survived  him.  His  son,  William 


196  OLD    CHUKCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

Henry  Fitzhugh,  my  associate  at  college,  entered  life  with  as  fail 
a  prospect  for  honour  and  usefulness  as  any  young  man  in  Virginia. 
Twice  only,  I  believe,  did  he  appear  In  the  legislative  hall  of  our 
State,  and  once  in  a  Convention  of  the  same ;  hut  such  a  promise 
of  political  distinction  was  there  given,  that  it  could  not  but  be 
felt  that  a  few  years  would  find  him  in  the  higher  Councils  of  the 
land.  It  pleased  Providence  to  interfere,  and  by  a  sudden  and 
early  death  to  remove  him  from  this  earthly  scene.  Before  this 
decree  of  Heaven  was  executed,  as  if  admonished  of  its  coming,  he 
had,  after  pleading  by  his  pen  and  voice  for  the  American  Coloni- 
zation Society,  directed  that  all  his  slaves — amounting,  I  believe,  to 
about  two  hundred — should  be  prepared  for,  and  allowed  to  choose, 
Africa  as  their  home. 

But  I  must  not  lay  down  my  pen,  though  the  heart  bleed  at  its 
further  use,  without  the  tribute  of  affection,  of  gratitude,  and  reve- 
rence to  one  who  was  to  me  as  sister,  mother,  and  faithful  monitor. 
Mrs.  Mary  Custis,  of  Arlington,  the  wife  of  Mr.  Washington  Custis, 
grandson  of  Mrs,  General  Washington,  was  the  daughter  of  Mr. 
William  Fitzhugh,  of  Chatham.  Scarcely  is  there  a  Christian  lady 
in  our  land  more  honoured  than  she  was,  and  none  more  loved  and 
esteemed.  For  good  sense,  prudence,  sincerity,  benevolence,  un- 
affected piety,  disinterested  zeal  in  every  good  work,  deep  humility 
and  retiring  modesty, — for  all  the  virtues  which  adorn  the  wife,  the 
mother,  and  the  friend, — I  never  knew  her  superior.  A  husband  yet 
lives  to  feel  her  loss.  An  only  daughter,  with  a  numerous  family 
of  children,  also  survive,  to  imitate,  I  trust,  her  blessed  example. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  197 


ARTICLE  LXIV. 
Overwharton  Parish,  Stafford  County. 

I  COME  now  to  Overwharton  parish  in  Stafford  county.  The 
county  and  parish  take  their  names  from  the  corresponding  ones 
in  England.  Stafford  county  once  extended  up  to  the  Blue  Eidge 
Mountain.  In  the  year  1730,  Prince  William  county  was  formed 
from  the  "heads  of  King  George  and  Stafford."  Overwharton 
parish  was  also  coextensive  with  Stafford  before  Prince  William 
was  taken  off.  In  the  same  year, — 1730, — Overwharton  parish 
was  divided  and  Hamilton  parish  taken  off.  Overwharton  covered 
the  narrow  county  of  Stafford,  and  Hamilton  the  large  county  of 
Prince  William  before  Fauquier,  Fairfax,  and  Loudoun  were  taken 
away.  Stafford,  in  its  original  dimensions,  first  appears  as  a 
county  in  1666.  When  it  was  erected  into  a  parish  is  not  known, — 
but  most  probably  about  the  same  time.  Its  division  in  1730 
is  the  first  mention  of  it.  The  Rev.  Robert  Rose  in  his  account- 
book  mentions  the  Rev.  Alexander  Scott  as  a  minister  in  it  in 
1727;  and  it  is  well  known  that  he  was  the  minister  of  this  parish 
for  many  years.*  He  came  from  Scotland? — being  obliged  to  leave, 
it  is  supposed,  after  some  unsuccessful  rebellion.  He  never  mar- 
ried. Having  acquired  considerable  property,  he  invited  his  younger 
brother,  the  Rev.  James  Scott,  to  come  over  and  inherit  it.  He 
had  one  estate  in  Stafford  called  Dipple,  at  which  he  lived.  His 


*  The  Kev.  Alexander  Seott  was  minister  in  this  parish  in  1724,  and  for  thirteen 
years  before,  as  appears  from  Ms  report  to  the  Bishop  of  London.  Being  then  a 
frontier-county,  its  limits  were  not  known ;  but  it  was  inhabited  about  eighty  miles 
along  the  Potomac  and  from  three  to  twenty  miles  in  the  interior.  There  were  six 
hundred  and  fifty  families,  eighty  to  one  hundred  communicants,  in  attendance,  one 
church,  and  several  chapels.  Glebe  so  inconvenient  that  he  rented  it  out  and  bought 
one  more  convenient  for  himself.  His  church  and  chapels  as  full  as  they  could  hold. 

Epitaph  of  Eev.  Alexander  Scott,  who  was  buried  afc  Bipple,  his  seat  on  the  Po- 
tomac : — *'  Here  lies  the  body  of  Bev.  Alexander  Scott,  A.M.,  and  presbyter  of  the 
Church  of  England,  who  lived  near  twenty-eight  years  minister  of  Overwharton 
parish,  and  died  in  the  fifty-third  year  of  his  age, — he  being  born  the  20th  day  of 
July,  A.I>.  1686?  and  departed  this  life  the  1st  day  of  April,  1788. 
"Gaudia  Nuncio  Magna," 

This  is  written  upon  his  coat  of  arms,  which  is  engraved  upon  his  tomb. 


198  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

brother  came  over,  and  after  some  time  became  the  minister  of  the 
adjoining  parish  of  Dettingen  in  Prince  William,  which  was  sepa- 
rated from  Hamilton  when  Fauquier  was  taken  from  Prince 
William,  and  in  which  he  ministered  for  thirty-seven  years.  Mr. 
Alexander  Scott  had  as  his  assistant  or  curate,  for  a  short  time 
before  his  death,  the  Kev.  Mr.  Moncnre,  a  Scotchman,  but  descend- 
ant of  a  Huguenot  refugee  who  fled  from  France  at  the  revoca- 
tion of  the  Edict  of  Nantes.  Mr.  Moncure  was  the  successor  of 
Mr.  Scott  In  what  year  he  entered  on  his  duties  I  have  been 
unable  to  ascertain,  but  his  name  is  still  to  be  seen  painted  on  one 
of  the  panels  of  the  gallery  in  Old  Aquia  Church,  together  with 
those  of  the  vestry  in  1757.  The  first  church  was  burned  in  the 
year  1751.  I  here  give  the  names  of  the  minister  and  vestry  as 
painted  on  the  gallery  in  the  year  1757,  when  it  is  supposed  the 
second  church  was  finished.  John  Moncure,  minister.  Peter 
Houseman,  John  Mercer,  John  Lee,  Mott  Donithan,  Henry  Tyler, 
William  Mountjoy,  Benjamin  Strother,  Thomas  Fitzhugh,  Peter 
Daniel,  Traverse  Cooke,  John  Fitzhugh,  John  Peyton,  vestrymen. 
It  is  gratifying  to  know  that  the  descendants  of  the  above  are,  with 
probably  but  few  exceptions,  in  some  part  of  our  State  or  land  still 
attached  to  the  Episcopal  Church.  Their  names  are  a  guarantee 
for  their  fidelity  to  the  Church  of  their  fathers.  Of  the  minister, 
the  Rev,  J.  Moncure,  the  following  extract  from  a  letter  of  one  of 
his  daughters,  who  married  General — afterward  Governor — Wood, 
of  Virginia,  will  give  a  more  interesting  account  than  any  which 
could  possibly  be  collected  from  all  other  sources.  It  was  written 
in  the  year  1820,  to  a  female  relative,  the  grand-daughter  of  the 
Rev.  James  Scott,  who  married  a  sister  of  the  Rev*  Mr.  Moncure's 
wife,  and  daughter  of  Dr.  Ghistavus  Brown,  of  Port  Tobacco, 
Maryland : — 

"  I  was  only  ten  years  old  when  I  lost  my  dear  father.  He  was  a  Scotch- 
man descended  from  a  French  ancestor,  who  fled  among  the  first  Protest- 
ants who  left  France  in  consequence  of  the  persecution  that  took  place 
BOOH  after  the  Reformation.  He  had  an  excellent  education,  and  had  made 
considerable  progress  in  the  study  of  medicine,  when  an  invitation  to  seek 
an  establishment  in  Virginia  induced  him  to  cross  the  Atlantic,  and  his 
first  engagement  was  in  Northumberland  county,  where  he  lived  two  years 
in  a  gentleman's  family  as  private  tutor.  During  that  time,  although  teach- 
ing others,  he  was  closely  engaged  in  the  study  of  divinity,  and,  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  third  year  from  his  first  arrival,  returned  to  G-reat  Britain 
and  was  ordained  a  minister  of  the  then  Established  Church ;  came  back 
fco  Virginia  and  engaged  as  curate  to  your  great-uncle,  Alexander  Scott, 
who  at  that  time  was  minister  of"  Overwharton  parish,  in  Stafford  county, 
and  resided  at  his  seat  of  Dipple.  Tour  uncle  died  a  short  time  after,  and 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  199 

;ny  dear  father  succeeded  him  in  his  parish  and  resided  at  the  glebe-1  ouse. 
Tour  grandfather,  the  Rev.  James  Scott,  who  inherited  Dipple,  continued 
there  until  he  settled  at  Westwood,  in  Prince  William.  He  was  my 
father's  dearest,  kindest  friend,  and  one  of  the  best  of  men.  Their  in- 
timacy brought  my  father  and  my  mother  acquainted,  who  was  sister  to 
your  grandmother  Scott.  Old  Dr.  Gustavus  Brown,  of  Maryland,  my  ma- 
ternal grandfather,  objected  to  the  marriage  of  my  father  and  mother. 
Although  he  thought  highly  of  my  father,  he  did  not  think  him  an  eligible 
match  for  his  daughter.  He  was  poor,  and  very  delicate  in  his  health. 
Dr.  Brown  did  not,  however,  forbid  their  union,  and  it  accordingly  took 
place.  The  old  gentleman  received  them  as  visitors  and  visited  them 
again,  but  would  not  pay  down  my  mother's  intended  dowry  until  he  saw 
how  they  could  get  along,  and  '  to  let  them  see  that  they  could  not  live  on 
love  without  other  sauce/*  I  have  often  heard  my  dear  mother  relate  the 
circumstauocs  of  her  first  housekeeping  with  tears  of  tender  and  delightful 
recollection.  They  went  home  from  your  grandpapa's,  where  they  were 
married,  wiih  a  slenderly-supplied  purse  and  to  an  empty  house, — except 
a  few  absolute  necessaries  from  their  kind  friends.  When  thus  arrived, 
they  found  some  of  my  good  father's  parishioners  there :  one  had  brought 
some  wood,  another  some  fowls,  a  third  some  meal,  and  so  on.  One  good 
neighbour  would  insist  on  washing  for  them,  another  would  milk,  and 
another  would  tend  the  garden ;  and  they  all  delighted  to  serve  their  good 
minister  and  his  wife.  Notwithstanding  these  aids,  my  mother  found  much 
to  initiate  her  into  the  habits  of  an  industrious  housewife,  and  my  father 
into  those  of  an  active,  practical  farmer  and  gardener,  which  they  never 
gave  up.  When  the  business  of  preparing  their  meal  was  over,  a  small 
writing-stand  was  their  table,  the  stair-steps  furnished  one  a  seat,  and  a 
trunk  the  other.  Often,  when  provisions  were  scarce,  my  father  took  his 
gun  or  his  fishing-rod  and  with  his  dog  sallied  forth  to  provide  their  dinner,, 
which,  when  he  returned,  his  happy  wife  dressed;  and  often  would  she 


*  The  opposition  of  Dr.  Brown  to  the  marriage  of  ids  eldest  daughter  with  a 
poor  clergyman  does  not  seem  to  have  been  attended  with  the  evils  which  he  doubt- 
less apprehended,  for  Mr.  Moncure  prospered  both  in  temporal  and  spiritual  things 
He  has  numerous  descendants  who  have  also  prospered,  and  many  of  them  arc 
living  on  the  very  lands  bequeathed  to  them  by  their  ancestor,  who  purchased  them 
at  a  cheap  rate  during  his  ministry.  They  are  also  zealous  friends  of  the  Church 
wherever  we  near  of  them.  Dr.  Brown  had  many  other  daughters,  four  of  whom 
followed  the  example  of  their  eldest  sister  and  married  clergymen  of  the  Episcopal 
Church.  The  Bev.  James  Scott,  of  Dettingen  parish,  Prince  William,  married  one, 
who  is  the  maternal  ancestor  of  numerous  families  in  Virginia  of  whom  we  shall 
soon  speak.  The  Eev.  Mr.  Campbell  and  the  Bey  Mr.  Hopkins  and  the  Rev 
Samuel  Glaggett,  of  Maryland,  (doubtless  a  relative,  perhaps  a  brother,  of  Bishop 
Claggett,)  married  the  fifth,  so  that  the  family  of  Browas  were  thoroughly  identified 
with  the  Episcopal  Church  and  ministry. 

Epitaph  of  Mrs.  Frances  Brown,  who  was  buried  at  Dipple,  the  seat  of  the  Eev 
Alexander  Scott,  on  the  Potomac : — *'  Here  lyetfc  the  body  of  Frances,  the  wife  of 
Br.  (jhistavus  Brown,  of  Ckarfes  county,  Maryland.  By  feer  he  had  twelve  children, 
«f  whom  one  son  and  seven  daughters  survived  her.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Mr. 
Gerard  Fowke,  late  of  Maryland,  and  descended  from  the  Fowkesof  Crunster  Hatt, 
in  Staffordshire,  England.  She  was  born  February  the  2d,  1691,  and  died,  much 
nted,  on  tije  8th  of  November,  1744,  in  the  fifty-fourth  year  of  her  age." 


200  OLD  CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

accompany  him  a-fishing  or  fowling,  for  site  said  tliat  they  were  too  poor 
to  have  full  employment  in  domestic  business.  Though  destitute  of  every 
luxury,  they  had  a  small,  well-chosen  library  which  my  father  had  collected 
while  a  student  and  tutor.  This  was  their  evening's  regale.  While 
my  mother  worked  with  her  needle  he  read  to  her.  This  mode  of 
enjoyment  pleasantly  brought  round  the  close  of  the  first  year.  When 
the  minister's  salary  was  paid  they  were  now  comparatively  rich.  My 
dearest  father  exchanged  his  shabby  black  coat  for  a  new  one,  and  the  next 
year  was  affluent.  By  this  time  the  neighbouring  gentry  found  out  the 
value  of  their  minister  and  his  wife,  and  contended  for  their  society  by 
soliciting  visits  and  making  them  presents  of  many  comforts.  Frequently 
these  grandees  would  come  in  their  splendid  equipages  to  spend  a  day  at 
the  glebe,  and  bring  every  thing  requisite  to  prevent  trouble  or  expense  to 
its  owners, — merely  for  the  enjoyment  of  the  society  of  the  humble  in- 
habitants of  this  humble  dwelling.  In  the  lapse  of  a  few  years,  by  fru- 
gality and  Industry  in  the  management  of  a  good  salary,  these  dear  parents 
became  quite  easy  in  their  circumstances.  My  father  purchased  a  large 
tract  of  land  on  the  river  Potomac.  He  settled  this  principally  by  tenants  -, 
but  on  the  most  beautiful  eminence  that  I  ever  beheld,  he  built  a  good 
house,  and  soon  improved  it  into  a  very  sweet  establishment.  Here  I  was 
born  :  my  brother  and  two  sisters,  considerably  my  seniors,  were  boro  at  the 
glebe.  My  brother,  who  was  intended  for  the  Church,  had  a  private  tutor 
in  the  house.  This  man  attended  also  to  my  two  sisters,  who  previously 
to  Ms  residence  in  the  family  were  under  the  care  of  an  Englishman,  who 
lived  in  the  house,  but  also  kept  a  public  school  under  my  father's  direc- 
tion about  a  mile  from  his  house.  Unhappily  for  me,  I  was  the  youngest, 
and  very  sickly.  My  father  and  mother  would  not  allow  me  to  be  com- 
pelled to  attend  to  my  books  or  my  needle,  and  to  both  I  had  a  decided 
aversion,  unless  voluntarily  resorted  to  as  an  amusement.  Tn  this  I  was  in- 
dulged. I  would  sometimes  read  a  lesson  to  my  sister  or  the  housekeeper,  or, 
if  their  authority  was  resisted,  I  was  called  to  my  mother's  side.  All  this 
amounted  to  my  being  an  ignorant  child  at  my  father's  death,  which  was  a 
death-stroke  to  my  dearest  mother.  The  incurable  grief  into  which  it  plunged 
her  could  scarcely  be  a  matter  of  surprise,  when  the  uncommonly  tender 
affection  which  united  them  is  considered.  They  were  rather  more  than 
middle-aged  when  I  was  first  old  enough  to  remember  them ;  yet  I  well  recol- 
lect their  inseparable  and  undeviating  association.  They  were  rarely  seen 
asunder.  My  mother  was  an  active  walker  and  a  good  rider.  Whenever  she 
could  do  so,  she  accompanied  him  in  his  pastoral  visits, — a  faithful  white 
servant  attending  in  her  absence  from  home.  They  walked  hand  in  hand, 
and  often  rode  hand  in  hand. — were  both  uncommonly  fond  of  the  cultiva- 
tion of  flowers,  fruits,  and  rare  plants.  They  watched  the  opening  buds 
together, — together  admired  the  beauty  of  the  full-blown  blossoms,  and 
gathered  the  ripening  fruit  or  seed.  While  he  wrote  or  read,  she  worked 
near  his  table, — which  always  occupied  the  pleasantest  place  in  their  cham- 
ber, where  he  chose  to  study,  often  laying  down  his  pen  to  read  and  com- 
ment on  an  impressive  passage.  Frequently,  when  our  evening  repast  was 
vWer,  (if  the  family  were  together,)  some  book,  amusing  and  instructive, 
was  read  aloud  by  my  dear  father,  and  those  of  the  children  or  their 
young  associates  who  could  not  be  silent  were  sent  to  bed  after  evening 
worship, — which  always  took  place  Immediately  after  supper.  Under  the 
void  which  this  sad  separation  occasioned,  my  poor  mother's  spirits  sunk 
and  never  rallied.  The  first  six  or  eight  months  were  spent  in  a  dark. 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  2CO 

secluded  chamber,  distant  from  that  formerly  occupied.  The  manage 
ment  of  the  family  devolved  on  my  brother  and  second  sister.  My  eldest 
married  two  or  three  years  previous  to  this  period.  I  was  left  pretty  much 
to  my  own  management.  The  education  of  my  brother  and  sister  was 
so  far  finished  that  they  not  only  held  what  they  had  acquired,  but  con- 
tinued  to  improve  ;  but  alas,  poor  me  !  I  as  usual  refused  every  thing  like 
study,  but  became,  unfortunately,  immoderately  fond  of  books.  The  key 
of  the  library  was  now  within  my  power,  and  the  few  romances  it  con* 
tained  were  devoured.  Poetry  and  a  botanical  work  with  plates  came 
nest.  This  gave  me  a  useless,  superficial  knowledge  of  what  might  have 
been  useful,  but  what  in  this  indigested  way  was  far  otherwise.  The 
Tattler,  Guardian,  and  Spectator  were  the  only  works  I  read  which  con- 
tained beneficial  instruction  ;  and  of  these  I  only  read  the  amusing  papers  ; 
and,  taking  the  beautiful  and  sublime  allegories  which  abound  with  moral 
instruction  in  a  literal  sense,  I  read  them  as  amusing  tales.  This  kind 
of  reading  made  up  a  pernicious  mass  of  chaotic  matter  that  darkened 
while  it  seemed  to  enlighten  my  mind,  and  I  soon  became  romantic  and 
exceedingly  ridiculous,  —  turned  the  branches  of  trees  together  and  called 
them  a  bower,  and  fancied  I  could  write  poetry,  and  many  other  silly 
things.  My  dear  mother  suffered  greatly  toward  the  close  of  her  life  with  a 
cancer  :  for  this  she  visited  the  medicinal  springs,  and  I  was  chosen  to  attend 
her.  It  was  a  crowded  and  gay  scene  for  me,  who  had  lived  almost  entirely 
in  seclusion.  I  did  not  mis  in  its  gayest  circle  }  yet  it  was  of  service  to 
me,  as  it  gave  me  the  first  view  of  real  life  that  ever  I  had.  My  beloved 
parent  was  not  desirous  of  confining  me;  bat  I  rejoice  at  the  recollection 
that  I  very  seldom  could  be  prevailed  on  to  leave  her.  There  I  first 
became  the  favourite  and  devoted  friend  of  your  most  excellent  mother. 
Forgive  the  vanity  of  this  boast,  my  dear  cousin,  but  I  cannot  help 
observing  that  she  afterward  told  me  that  it  was  the  manner  in  which 
I  discharged  this  duty  that  won  her  esteem  and  love.  At  this  place  I 
first  met  with  General  Wood,  who  visited  me  soon  after  my  return  home, 
and  became  my  husband  four  years  after." 

The  time  of  Mr.  Moneure's  death  is  seen  from  the  following  letter 
from  that  true  patriot  and  statesman,  Mr.  George  Mason,  of  Gruns- 
ton,  Fairfax  county,  Yirginia.  As  he  signs  himself  the  kinsman 
of  Mrs.  Moncure,  the  relationship  must  have  come  from  connection 
between  the  Browns,  of  Maryland,  and  Masons.  Dr.  Brown  came 
to  this  country  from  Scotland  in  1708,  and  married  in  Maryland. 


,  12th  March,  1764. 

"  DEAB  MABAM  :  —  I  have  your  letter  by  Peter  yesterday,  and  the  day 
before  I  had  one  from  Mr.  Scott,  who  sent  up  Gustin  Brown  on  purpose 
with  it.  I  entirely  agree  with  Mr,  Scott  in  preferring  a  funeral  sermon  at 
Aquia  Church,  without  any  invitation  to  the  house.  Mr.  Mon  cure's  cha- 
racter and  general  acquaintance  will  draw  together  much  company,  besides 
a  great  part  of  his  parishioners,  and  I  am  sure  you  are  not  in  a  condition 
to  bear  such  a  scene;  and  it  would  be  very  inconvenient  for  a  number  of 
people  to  come  so  far  from  church  in  the  afternoon  after  the  sermon.  As 
Mr.  Honours  did  not  desire  to  be  buried  in  any  particular  pkce,  and  as  it 
is  usual  to  bury  clergymen  in  their  own  churches,  I  think  the  oorpse  being 


202  OLD   CHURCHES,   MmSTEBS,  AND 

deposited  In  the  church  where  he  had  so  long  preached  Is  both  decent  and 
proper,  and  It  is  probable,  could  he  have  chosen  himself,  he  would  have 
preferred  it.  Mr.  Scott  writes  to  me  that  It  is  intended  Mr.  Green  shall 
preach  the  funeral  sermon  on  the  20th  of  this  month,  if  fair;  if  not,  the 
next  fair  day;  and  I  shall  write  to  3Ir.  Grreen  to-morrow  to  that  purpose, 
and  Inform  him  that  you  expect  Mrs.  Green  and  him  at  your  house  on  the 
day  before;  and,  if  God  grants  me  strength  sufficient  either  to  ride  on 
horseback  or  In  a  chair,  I  will  certainly  attend  to  pay  the  last  duty  to  the 
memory  of  my  friend;  but  I  am  really  so  weak  at  present  that  I  can't  walk 
without  crutches  and  very  little  with  them,  and  have  never  been  out  of 
the  house  but  once  or  twice,  and  then,  though  I  stayed  but  two  or  three 
minutes  at  a  time,  it  gave  me  such  a  cold  as  greatly  to  increase  my  dis- 
order. Mr.  Green  has  lately  been  very  sick,  and  was  not  able  to  attend 
his  church  yesterday,  (which  I  did  not  know  when  I  wrote  to  Mr.  Scott :) 
if  he  should  not  recover  soon,  so  as  to  be  able  to  come  down,  I  will  inform 
you  or  Mr,  Scott  in  time,  that  some  other  clergyman  may  be  applied  to. 

*'I  beseech  you,  dear  madam,  not  to  give  way  to  melancholy  reflections, 
or  to  think  that  you  are  without  friends.  I  know  nobody  that  has  reason 
to  expect  more,  and  those  tbat  will  not  be  friends  to  you  and  your  chil- 
dren now  Mr.  Moncure  is  gone  were  not  friends  to  him  when  he  was  living, 
let  their  professions  be  what  they  would.  If,  therefore,  you  should  find 
any  such,  you  have  no  cause  to  lament  the  loss,  for  such  friendship  is  not 
worth  anybody's  concern. 

al  am  very  glad  to  hear  that  Mr.  Scott  purposes  to  apply  for  Over- 
wharton  parish.  It  will  be  a  great  comfort  to  you  and  your  sister  to  be  so 
near  one  another,  and  I  know  the  goodness  of  Mr.  Scott's  heart  so  well, 
that  I  am  sure  he  will  take  a  pleasure  in  doing  you  every  good  office  in 
bis  power,  and  I  had  much  rather  he  should  succeed  Mr.  Moncure  than 
any  other  person.  I  hope  you  will  not  impute  my  not  visiting  you  to  any 
coldness  or  disrespect.  It  gives  me  great  concern  that  I  am  not  able  to 
see  yop.  You  may  depend  upon  my  coining  down  as  soon  as  my  disorder 
will  permit^  and  I  hope  you  know  me  too  well  to  need  any  assurance  that 
I  shall  gladly  embrace  all  opportunities  of  testifying  my  regard  to  my  de- 
ceased friend  by  doing  every  good  office  in  my  power  to  his'family. 

"  I  am,  with  my  wife's  kindest  respects  and  my  own,  dear  madam,  your 
most  affectionate  kinsman,  GEORGE  MASON." 

As  to  the  successor  of  Mr.  Moncure  In  this  parish,  it  Is  probable 
that  the  Rev,  Mr.  Green,  mentioned  in  the  above  letter,  took  his 
place  in  1764.  It  is  certain  that  Mr.  Scott  did  not.  In  the  years 
1774  and  1776  the  Rev.  Clement  Brooke  was  minister.  After  the 
Revolution,  in  the  Convention  of  1785,  called  for  organizing  the 
diocese  and  considering  the  question  of  a  general  confederation  of 
Episcopalians  throughout  the  Union,  we  find  the  Rev.  Robert 
Buchan  the  minister  of  Overwharton  parish,  and  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Thornton  of  Brunswick  parish,  which  had  been  taken  from  King 
George  and  given  to  Stafford  when  St.  Paul's  was  taken  from  Staf- 
ford and  given  to  King  George.  The  lay  delegates  at  that  Con- 
vention were  Mr.  Charles  Carter,  representing  Overwharton  parish, 
and  Mr.  William  Fitzhugh,  of  Chatham,  representing  Brunswick 


FAMILIES   OF    VIRGINIA.  203 

parish,  which  lay  on  the  Rappahannock  and  reached  to  Hanorer 
parish  in  King  George.  In  the  year  1786  we  find  Mr.  FItzhugh 
again  representing  Brunswick  parish ;  and  this  is  the  last  notice  we 
have  of  the  Church  in  Stafford  until  some  years  after  the  revival 
of  Conventions.  In  the  year  1819,  the  Rev,  Thomas  Allen,  the 
present  devoted  missionary  to  the  poor  in  Philadelphia,  took  charge 
of  this  parish  and  laboured  hard  for  its  resuscitation,  preaching 
alternately  at  Dumfries  and  Aquia  Churches.  At  a  subsequent 
period  the  Rev.  Mr.  Prestman,  afterward  of  New  Castle,  Delaware, 
gave  all  his  energies  to  the  work  of  its  revival.  The  labours  of 
both  were  of  some  avail  to  preserve  it  from  utter  extinction,  hut 
not  to  raise  it  to  any  thing  like  prosperity.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Johnson 
also  made  some  ineffectual  efforts  in  its  behalf  as  a  missionary.  In 
the  year  1838,  I  visited  Old  Aquia  Church  as  Assistant-Bishop.  It 
stands  upon  a  high  eminence,  not  very  far  from  the  main  road  from 
Alexandria  to  Fredericksburg.  It  was  a  melancholy  sight  to  be- 
hold the  vacant  space  around  the  house,  which  in  other  days  had 
been  filled  with  horses  and  carriages  and  footmen,  now  overgrown 
with  trees  and  bushes,  the  limbs  of  the  green  cedars  not  only  cast- 
ing their  shadows  but  resting  their  arms  on  the  dingy  walls  and 
thrusting  them  through  the  broken  windows,  thus  giving  an  air  of 
pensiveness  and  gloom  to  the  whole  scene.  The  very  pathway  up 
the  commanding  eminence  on  which  it  stood  was  filled  with  young 
trees,  while  the  arms  of  the  older  ones  so  embraced  each  other  over 
it  that  it  was  difficult  to  ascend.  The  church  had  a  noble  exterior, 
being  a  high  two-story  house,  of  the  figure  of  the  cross.  On  its  top 
was  an.  observatory  ?  which  you  reached  by  a  flight  of  stairs  leading 
from  the  gallery,  and  from  which  the  Potomac  and  Rappahannock 
Rivers,  which  are  not  far  distant  from  each  other,  and  mnch  of  the 
surrounding  country,  might  be  seen.  Sot  a  great  way  off,  on  an- 
other eminence,  there  might  be  seen  the  high,  tottering  walls  of  the 
Old  Potomac  Church,  one  of  the  largest  in  Virginia,  and  long  be- 
fore this  time  a  deserted  one.  The  soldiers  during  the  last  war 
with  England,  when  English  vessels  were  in  the  Potomac,  had 
quartered  in  it ;  and  it  was  said  to  have  been  sometimes  used  as  a 
nursery  for  caterpillars,  a  manufactory  of  silk  having  been  set  up 
almost  at  its  doors.  The  worshippers  in  it  had  disappeared  from  the 
country  long  before  it  ceased  to  be  a  fit  place  for  prayer.  But  there 
is  hope  even  now  for  the  once  desolated  region  about  which  we  have 
been  speaking.  At  my  visit  to  Old  Aquia  Church  in  the  year  1837, 
to  which  I  allude,  I  baptized  five  of  the  children  of  the  present  Judge 
Moneore,  in  the  venerable  old  building  in  which  his  first  ancestor 


204  OLD  CHURCHES,  MIKISTIRS,  AND 

had  preached  and  so  many  of  Ms  other  relatives  had  worshipped. 
He  had  been  saving  them  for  that  house  and  that  day.  I  visited 
once  more,  during  the  last  spring,  that  interesting  spot.  Had  I 
been  suddenly  dropped  down  upon  it,  I  should  not  have  recognised 
the  place  or  building.  The  trees  and  brushwood  and  rubbish  had 
been  cleared  away.  The  light  of  heaven  had  been  let  in  upon  the 
once  gloomy  sanctuary.  At  the  expense  of  eighteen  hundred 
dollars,  (almost  all  of  it  contributed  by  the  descendants  of  Mr. 
Moncure,)  the  house  had  been  repaired  within,  without,  and  above. 
The  dingy  walls  were  painted  white  and  looked  new  and  fresh,  and 
to  me  it  appeared  one  of  the  best  and  most  imposing  temples  in  our 
land.  The  congregation  was  a  good  one.  The  descendants  of  Mr. 
Moncure,  still  bearing  his  name,  formed  a  large  portion.  I  was 
told  that  all  those  whom  I  had  baptized  eighteen  years  ago  (some  of 
whom,  of  course,  were  not  babes  at  the  time)  were  there  and  meant 
to  make  it  their  home.  The  country,  which  seemed  some  time 
since  as  if  it  were  about  to  be  deserted  of  its  inhabitants  by  reason 
of  sickness  and  worn-out  fields,  is  putting  on  a  new  aspect.  Agri- 
culture is  improving.  A  better  population  is  establishing  itself  in 
the  county,  and  at  the  end  of  a  century  there  is  an  encouraging 
prospect  that  a  good  society  and  an  Episcopal  congregation  will  be 
again  seen  around  and  within  OH  Aquia  Church.  The  Rev.  Mr. 
Wall  is  now  their  minister. 

The  Hon.  Judge  Daniel,  of  the  Supreme  Court,  has  been  kind 
enough  to  supply  me  with  the  following  letter,  which,  with  the 
accompanying  extracts  from  the  county  records,  will  be  an  im- 
portant addition  to  my  notices  of  this  parish : — 

''WASHINGTON,  November  12,  1855. 

u  DEAR  SIB  : — In  reply  to  your  inquiries  concerning  the  Old  Potomac 
Church  and  its  neighbourhood,  I  give  you  the  following  statement,  founded 
in  part  upon  tradition  and  partly  upon  my  own  recollection.  My  maternal 
grandfather,  John  Moncure,  a  native  of  Scotland,  was  the  regular  minister 
both  of  Aquia  and  Potomac  Ohurches.  He  was  succeeded  in  the  ministry 
in,  these  churches  by  a  clergyman  named  Brooke,  who  removed  to  the 
State  of  Maryland.  The  Eev.  Mr.  Bucnan  succeeded  him :  he  was  tutor 
in  my  father's  family,  and  educated  John  Thompson  Mason,  6-eneral 
Mason,  of  Georgetown,  Judge  Nicholas  Fitzhugh,  ^  and  many  others. 
Going  back  to  a  period  somewhat  remote  in  enumerating  those  who  lived 
In  the  vicinity  of  Potomac  Church,  I  will  mention  my  great-grandfather, 
Kowleigh  Travers,  one  of  the  most  extensive  landed  proprietors  in  that 
section  of  the  country,  and  who  married  Hannah  Ball,  half-sister  of  Mary 
Ball,  the  mother  of  General  George  Washington.  From  Bowleigh  Travers 
and  Hannah  Ball  descended  two  daughters,  Elizabeth  and  Sarah  Travers : 
fche  former  married  a  man  named  Gooke,  and  the  latter  my  grandfather, 


r. 

c 


> 

"*I 

**; 

C 


FAMILIES    OF  VIRGINIA.  205 

Peter  Daniel.  To  Peter  and  Sarah  Daniel  was  born  an  only  son, — Traverg 
Daniel,  my  father, — who  married  Frances  Moneure,  my  mother,  the  daugh- 
ter of  the  Bev.  John  Moncure  and  Frances  Brown,  daughter  of  Dr.  Gus- 
tavus  Brown,  of  Maryland.  The  nearest  and  the  coterminous  neighbour 
of  my  father  was  John  Mercer,  of  Marlborough,  a  native  of  Ireland,  a 
distinguished  lawyer;  the  compiler  of  'Mercer's  Abridgment  of  the  Tir- 
dniaLaws;'  the  father  of  Colonel  George  Mercer,  an  officer  in  the  British 
service,  and  who  died  in  England  about  the  commencement  of  the  Revo- 
lution ;  the  father  also  of  Judge  James  Mercer,  father  of  Charles  F.  Mercer, 
of  John  Francis  Mercer,  who  in  my  boyhood  resided  at  Marlborough,  in 
Stafford,  and  was  afterward  Governor  of  Maryland;  of  Robert  Mercer,  who 
lived  and  died  in  Fredericksburg;  of  Ann  Mercer,  who  married  Samuel 
Selden,  of  Selvington,  Stafford;  of  Maria  Mercer,  who  married  Kichard 
Brooke,  of  King  "William,  father  of  General  George  M.  Brooke;  and  of 
another  daughter,  whose  name  is  not  recollected, — the  wife  of  Muscoe 
Garnett  and  mother  of  the  late  James  M.  Garnett. 

Proceeding  according .  to  contiguity  were  Elijah  Threlheld,  John 
Hedgeman,  who  married  a  daughter  of  Parson  Spencer  Grayson,  of 
Prince  William;  Thomas  Mountjoy,  William  Mountjoy,  and  John  Mount- 
joy,  the  last-mentioned  of  whom  emigrated  to  Kentucky,  having  sold 
his  farm  to  Mr.  John  T.  Brooke^  the  brother  of  the  late  Judge  Francis 
T.  Brooke,  and  who  married  Ann  Gary  Seldeu,  daughter  of  Ann  Mercei 
and  grand-daughter  of  John  Mercer.  Next  in  the  progression  was  the 
residence  of  John  Brown,  who  married  Hannah  Cooke,  daughter  of  Eliza- 
beth Travers  and  grand-daughter  of  Hannah  Ball,  wife  of  Eowleigh 
Travers.  Next  was  the  glebe,  the  residence  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Buchan, 
Adjoining  this  was  the  residence,  (in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  church,) 
called  Berry  Hill,  of  Colonel  Thomas  Ludwell  Lee,  who  possessed  anothei 
plantation,  on  the  opposite  side  of  Potomac  Creek,  called  Belle vue.  The 
son  of  the  gentleman  last  named,  and  bearing  the  same  name,  removed  to 
London.  Of  his  daughters,  one  married  Daniel  Carroll  Brent,  of  Richland, 
Stafford,  and  the  other  Dr.  John  Dalrymple  Orr,  of  Prince  William.  Next 
to  Berry  Hill  was  the  plantation  of  John  Withers,  on  the  stream  forming 
the  head  of  Potomac  Creek.  Crossing  this  stream  were  those  of  John 
James,  Thomas  Fitzhugh,  of  Boscobel,,  Major  Henry  Fitzhugh,  of  Belte 
Air,  Samuel  Selden,  of  Selvington,  the  husband  of  Ann  MercerT  and  lastly, 
Belle  Plaine,  the  estate  of  Gaury  Waugh,  and,  after  his  death,  of  bis  sons, 
George  Lee  Waugh  and  Robert  Waugh,  I  have  thus,  sir,  without  much 
attention  to  system  or  style,  attempted  a  compliance  with  your  request, 
and  shall  be  gratified  if  the  attempt  should  prove  either  serviceable  01 
gratifying.  I  would  remark  that  the  enumeration  given  you,  limited  to  a 
space  of  some  eight  or  ten  miles  square,  comprises  none  but  substantial 
people,  some  of  them  deemed  wealthy  in  their  day,  several  of  them  per- 
sons of  education,  polish,  and  refinement. 

"With  great  respect,  yours,  P.  V.  DANIEL," 

The  present  clerk  of  Stafford  county  (Mr.  Conway)  has  also  beei 
kind  enotigli  to  search  through  the  old  records,  going  back  to  tibw 
year  1664,  for  such  things  as  may  answer  my  purpose.  Araonj 
the  items  famished  is  the  presentment^  in  the  year  1698,  by  Rich 
ard  (jipson,  of  George  and  Robert  Brent  as  being  Popish  recusants 


206  OLD    CHUKCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

He  calls  upon  the  court  to  insist  upon  their  taking  the  test-oath  in 
order  to  the  practice  of  law.  That  oath  is  abjuration  of  tran- 
substantiation.  The  court  sustains  the  presentment  and  requires 
them  to  take  the  oath ;  but  they  refuse,  and  appeal  to  the  General 
Court  in  Williamsburg.  What  was  the  issue  we  know  not,  but 
believe  that  they  were  leading  men  at  the  bar  after  that.  One  of 
them  was  associated  in  the  practice  with  the  first  William  Fitzhugh, 
and  one  of  them  joint  sponsor  with  the  first  George  Mason  at  the 
baptism  of  an  Indian  boy  whom  they  had  taken  prisoner. 

We  find  also  presentments  for  swearing,  for  pitching  and  playing 
on  the  Sabbath,  for  not  attending  church.  The  fines  were  five  to 
ten  shillings,  to  be  paid  to  the  churchwardens  for  the  poor  of  the 
parish.  To  the  great  kindness  and  diligence  of  Mr.  Conway  I  am 
indebted  for  a  list  of  the  justices  from  the  year  1664  to  1857.  Of 
course  it  is  a  long  list.  I  shall  only  select  the  surnames  of  those 
most  familiar  to  our  ears : — 

Williams,  Alexander,  Mason  in  great  numbers,  Osburn,  Fitzhugh  in 
great  numbers,  Buekner,  Thompson,  Withers,  Maddoeks,  Massey,  Ander- 
son, Waugh,  West,  Hoe,  Washington  in  great  numbers,  Sumner,  Jameson, 
Bade,  Harrison,  Storkey,  Broad  water,  Linton,  Berryman,  Farrow,  Thorn- 
ton, McCarty,  Triplett,  G-rigsby,  French,  Aubrey,  Hedgeman,  Markam, 
Lee,  Carter,  Brent,  Fowke,  Bernard,  Foote,  Doniphan,  Peyton  in  numbers, 
Grant,  Daniel  in  numbers,  Scott,  Walker,  Waller,  Chapman,  Mercer, 
Strother,  Stewart,  Stith,  Seldon,  Moncure,  Bronaugh,  Edrington,  James, 
Adie,  Brown,  Banks,  Mountjoy,  Hewett,  Yowles,  Morson,  Hood,  Nicholas, 
Eustace,  Ficklin,  Richards,  Botts,  Wallace,  Fox,  Brooke,  Bristoe,  Lewis, 
Lane,  Seddon,  Tolson,  Yoss,  Crutcher,  Forbes,  Skinker,  Eose,  Beale, 
Grayson,  Hill,  Cooke,  Norman,  Briggs,  Morton,  Bowen,  Kendall,  Conway, 
Green,  Benson,  Chinn,  Browne,  Stone,  Irvine,  Slaughter,  O'Bannon, 
Harding,  Hickerson7  Clift. 

We  must  not  in  our  minds  confine  all  these  to  Stafford  as  it  now 
is,  but  think  of  its  original  dimensions. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  207 


ARTICLE  LXV. 
Dettingen  Parish,  Prince  William  County. 

THIS  was  taken  out  of  Hamilton  parish,  which,  in  1745,  covered 
all  of  what  is  now  Prince  William  and  Fauquier.  It  is  supposed 
to  have  been  named  after  a  town  in  Germany,  called  Dettingen, 
near  which  the  English  gained  a  victory  in  the  year  1743, — two 
years  hefore.  The  parish  register  having  been  destroyed  in  the 
Clerk's  office  in  Fauquier,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  we  have  no 
record  of  the  parish  of  Dettingen  previous  to  the  year  1745.  All 
that  I  can  learn  is  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Keith,  the  grandfather  of 
Chief-Justice  Marshall,  was  the  minister  of  Hamilton  parish  pre- 
vious to  the  division,  and  continued  to  be  the  minister  of  that  part 
called  Hamilton  after  the  division.  My  information  concerning 
Dettingen  parish  is  derived  from  a  vestry-book  in  the  Clerk's  office 
of  Prince  William,  commenced  in  the  year  1745  and  continued  to 
the  year  1785.  It  commences  with  the  following  test,  signed  by 
the  vestry: — "We  do  declare  that  we  do  believe  there  is  not  any 
transubstantiation  in  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  or  in 
the  elements  of  bread  and  wine,  at  or  after  the  consecration 
thereof  by  any  person  whatsoever."  It  would  seem  that  the 
above  was  the  only  test  subscribed  in  this  parish,  stowing  that 
there  was  at  this  time  some  peculiar  fear  and  detestation  of  Popery, 
it  being  about  the  time  of  the  last  efforts  in  England  in  behalf  of 
the  Pretender.  Although  a  form  of  the  subscription  of  vestrymen 
was  prescribed  by  Act  of  the  Assembly,  which  was  generally 
used,  the  vestries  did  not  always  conform  to  it,  but  adopted  several 
different  ones,  as  we  shall '  show  hereafter.  The  first  minister  of 
this  parish  after  its  separation  from  Hamilton  was  the  Bev.  James 
Soott,  of  whom  we  have  already  spoken  as  coming  over  to  this 
country  by  the  invitation  of  his  elder  brother,  Mr.  Alexander  Seott, 
minister  of  the  adjoining  parish  of  Overwharfcon,  in  Stafford.  How 
long  Mr.  James  Scott  had  been  in  America  is  not  known.  The 
following  resolution  of  the  vestry  shows  that  he  was  living  in  Staf- 

rd  at  the  time  of  Ms  election,  and  also  the  probability  that  h* 


208  OLD  CHTfKCHES,    MINISTERS,   AXD 

was  married  at  that  time.*  "  Ordered,  that  the  Rev*  James  Scott 
be  received  into  this  parish  on  condition  of  his  moving  into  it  as 
soon  as  a  glebe  and  house  is  prepared."  The  following  letters 
from  Governor  Grooch  and  Commissary  Dawson  speak  well  in  his 
behalf. 

"  WILLIAMSBTTKG,  April  26,  1745. 

£*  GENTLEMEN  : — As  your  parish  is  at  present  unfurnished  with  a  mi- 
nister, I  recommend  to  your  approbation  and  choice  the  Rev.  Mr.  Scott, 
who,  in  my  opinion,  is  a  man  of  discretion,  understanding,  and  integrity, 
and  in  every  way  qualified  to  discharge  the  sacred  office  to  your  satisfac- 
tion. I  am  your  affectionate  friend  and  humble  servant, 

"WILLIAM   &OOCH." 
FROM  THE  COMMISSARY. 

*fc  GENTLEMEN  : — I  hope  and  believe  that  your  parish  will  be  worthily 
supplied  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  James  Scott.  His  merit  having  been  long  known 
to  you,  I  need  not  dwell  upon  it.  That  you  may  be  greatly  benefited  by 
his  good  life  and  doctrine,  and  mutually  happy  with  each  other,  and  all 
the  souls  committed  to  his  charge  may  be  saved,  is  the  daily  prayer  of, 
u  Gentlemen,  your  most  affectionate,  humble  servant, 

il  WILLIAM  DAWSON. 
"  WILLIAM  AND  MARY  COLLEGE,  April  26,  1745." 

In  the  above  letter,  Mr.  Scott  is  said  to  have  been  long  known 
to  the  vestry  of  Dettingen  parish.  It  is  supposed  that  he  was  for 
gome  years  assistant  or  curate  to  Ms  brother  Alexander  Scott  in 


*  The  Rev.  James  Scott,  who  married  Sarah  Brown,  had  several  sons  and  daugh- 
ter^— viz. :  James  Scott,  (the  father  of  Alexander  Scott,  Mrs.  Dr.  Homer,  and  Mrs. 
Brown,  of  Fauqttier,)  the  Rev.  John  Scott,  (father  of  the  late  Judge  Scott,  of 
Fauquier,  and  Mrs.  Peyton,  of  Gordonsdale ;  of  a  daughter,  who  first  married  Mr. 
r*  Peyton,  then  Mr.  Charles  Lee,  and  lastly,  Mr.  Glassell,) — Gustavus,  (the  father 
of  Robert  and  John  Scott,  and  Mrs.  Rankin,)  One  of  the  daughters  of  Rev.  James 
Scott  married  Judge  Bullett,  father  of  Judge  Bullett,  of  Maryland,  and  of  Mr, 
.Alexander  Bullett,  an  eminent  lawyer  of  Louisville,  Kentucky,  who  has  left  a  num- 
ber of  descendants.  Another  married  Colonel  Blackhurn,  of  Rippon  Lodge,  not 
very  far  from  Dumfries,  father  of  Mr.  Thomas  Blackburn,  who  married  Miss  Sin- 
clair ;  and  of  Richard  Blackburn,  father  of  Mrs.  Jane  and  Polly  Washington,  of 
Jefferson  county,  Miss  Christian  Blackburn,  and  Miss  Judy  Blackburn,  now  Mrs. 
Alexander,  of  King  Oeorge,  Colonel  Blackburn,  of  Rippon  Lodge,  was  also  the 
father  of  Mrs.  Washington,  of  Mount  Vernon,  wife  of  Judge  Washington,  and  of 
Mrs.  Henry  Turner,  of  Jefferson  county,  Virginia.  Mrs.  Blackburn,mentioned  above, 
was  long  known,  loved,  and  revered,  as  one  of  the  most  exemplary  members  of  our 
Church  in  the  parish  of  Wkkliff,  in  old  Frederick  county.  Prom  my  first  entrance 
on  the  ministry,  the  house  of  Mrs,  Blackburn  was  my  frequent  resort.  I  have 
never  known  a  family  of  children  and  servants  more  faithfully  regulated  by  Christian 
principles  than  was  hers,  and  by  herself,  for  she  was  a  widow  at  an  early  age.  She 
left  three  children,  who  are  members  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  who  seek  to 
follow  her  example  in  the  regulation  of  their  household.  One  of  the  daughters  of 
the  Rev.  James  Scott  married  Dr.  Brown,  of  Alexandria,  who  was  at  one  time 
General  Washington's  family  physician. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  20S 

Stafford,  and  was  succeeded  in  that  station  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Moncure. 
A.  glebe  was  purchased  for  Mr.  Scott  on  Quantico  Creek,  which 
runs  up  the  Potomac  to  Dumfries.  It  consisted  of  four  hundred 
acres  of  land,  and  was  bought  of  Mr.  Thomas  Harrison,  for  one 
hundred  and  thirty-five  pounds  sterling.  So  far  as  I  have  ascer- 
tained, but  few  of  the  glebes  cost  that  much,  and  when  rented  out, 
as  they  often  were,  seldom  brought  more  than  twenty  or  thirty 
pounds.  Mr.  Scott  continued  the  minister  of  that  parish  until  his 
death  in  1782,  being  minister  of  the  parish  for  thirty-seven  years. 
He  lived  most  of  the  time  at  his  own  estate  of  Westwood,  the  gift, 
it  is  believed,  of  his  brother.  Before  we  proceed  to  make  mention 
of  his  successors  in  office,  there  are  some  things  worthy  of  notice, 
in  relation  to  the  parish,  which  had  better  be  disposed  of  in  this 
place.  There  were  two  churches  in  the  parish,  between  which  the 
services  of  the  minister  were  equally  divided.  One  of  them  was 
very  near  Dumfries,  the  other  near  the  two  streams  Broad  Run  and 
Slater  Run,  and  sometimes  called  by  either  name.  At  the  time  of 
the  division  of  the  parish,  there  was  an  old  and  indifferent  one 
near  Dumfries,  which,  in  the  year  1752,  was  sold  for  fifteen  hundred- 
weight of  tobacco,  and  a  new  one  costing  one  hundred  thousand- 
weight  was  ordered.  The  contractor  for  it  was  a  Mr.  Waite,  an- 
cestor to  the  worthy  member  and  lay  reader  of  our  Church  in 
Winchester,  Mr.  Obed  Waite.  The  church  at  Broad  Run  was  also 
contracted  for  in  1752.  Both  were  of  brick,  and  very  substantial 
ones.  It  has  not  been  many  years  since  the  roof  and  walls  of  the 
latter  fell  to  the  ground.  Some  remnant  of  the  ruins  of  the  former 
may  perhaps  be  seen  near  Dumfries  at  this  time.  I  have  often 
seen  them,  when  more  abundant,  in  my  travels  through  that  region. 
Dumfries  itself,  once  the  mart  of  that  part  of  Virginia,  the  scene 
of  gayety  and  fashion,  the  abode  of  wealthy  merchants  from  Scot- 
land, who  named  it  after  a  city  of  that  name  in  the  mother-country, 
is  now  in  ruins,  almost  as  complete  as  those  of  the  old  church. 
Quantico  Creek,  through  which  the  trade  from  Europe  came,  is  now 
filled  up,  while  the  pines  have  covered  the  spot  where  the  church 
once  stood  near  its  banks.  Desolation  reigns  around.  The  old 
court-house  was  fitted  up  some  thirty-five  or  forty  years  ago  for 
worship,  but  that  has  long  since  been  abandoned  for  want  of  wor- 
shippers. A  few  years  since  I  spent  a  night  in  the  neighbourhood, 
in  a  worthy  Baptist  family,  and,  while  conversing  on  the  past,  the 
lady  of  the  family  mentioned  that  she  had  in  her  possession  some 
things  belonging  K>  tie  old  church,  which  she  would  be  glad  to  put 
into  my  hands,  as  she  wished  to  be  clear  of  them.  After  hunting  for 
TOL,  IL— 14 


210  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

some  time  amid  the  rubbish  of  the  top-shelf  of  an  old  cupboard 
standing  in  the  room,  she  brought  out  two  small,  old,  well-worn 
pieces  of  church-plate,  supposed  to  be  those  once  used  in  the  Old 
Quantico  Church.  I  still  have  them  in  my  possession,  to  bestow  on 
some  poor  parish  which  will  not  be  too  proud  to  use  them.  There 
were  galleries  in  the  church  at  Broad  Run,  one  of  which  was  allowed 
to  be  put  up  by  Mr.  Thomas  Harrison,  provided  it  was  done  so  as  not 
to  incommode  any  of  the  pews  below  it.  The  other?  were  put  up 
by  the  vestry  and  sold.  The  pews  below  were  all  common,  though 
doubtless  taken  possession  of  by  different  families,  as  is  usual  in 
England.  The  old  English  custom  (beginning  with  the  Royal 
family  in  St.  George's  Church  at  Windsor)  of  appropriating  the 
galleries  to  the  rich  and  noble  was  soon  followed  in  Virginia,  and, 
as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  the  old  aristocratic  families  could  with 
difficulty  be  brought  down  from  their  high  lofts  in  the  old  churches, 
even  after  they  became  uncomfortable  and  almost  dangerous.  I  find 
an  entry  on  this  vestry-book  concerning  payment  to  the  sextons 
of  these  churches  for  making  fires,  which  is  the  first  of  the  only 
two  instances  I  have  met  with,  and  I  am  in  doubt  whether  the  pay- 
ment was  for  fire  in  the  churches  or  vestry-rooms  in  the  yard;  for 
I  have  never  seen  where  provision  was  made  for  fires  in  any  of  the 
old  churches,  either  by  open  chimneys  or  stoves,  if  indeed  stoves 
were  then  known  in  the  land.  It  was  the  same  case  in  the  old 
churches  in  England,  and  still  is  in  cathedrals  to  this  day,  and  it 
is  no  wonder  that  the  latter  are  so  cold,  damp,  and  comfortless. 
Very  few,  if  any,  of  tlie  country  churches,  even  in  New  England, 
were  warmed  by  stoves  when  I  travelled  through  it  in  the  year  1819. 
In  this  respect  I  think  we  have  certainly  improved  on  the  customs 
of  our  fathers.  I  think  that  in  some  other  respects  we  have 
advanced  in  liberality.  Nothing  was  done  gratuitously  by  any 
member  of  the  church.  The  lay  readers  were  always  paid  one 
thousand  or  twelve  hundred  weight  of  tobacco.  Clerks  received 
about  the  same.  No  liberal  gentleman  gave  his  wine  for  the  Com* 
mtmion,  as  in  latter  days,  but  always  charged  for  it.  The  annual 
cost  at  each  of  the  churches  in  this  parish  was  four  pounds  for 
twelve  bottles  of  wine.  One  thing  has  struck  me,  in  all  the  in- 
dentures required  of  those  to  whom  orphan  or  illegitimate  children 
were  bound  by  the  vestry,  as  speaking  well  for  the  times.  The 
masters  were  required  to  teach  those  who  were  bound  to  them  "the 
art  and  mystery  of  some  trade,1*  to  "  instruct  them  in  the  principles 
of  the  Christian  religion/'  Sometimes  the  catechism,  Lord's 
prayer,  creed,  and  Commandments  are  specified,  as  also  the  doc 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  211 

crises  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  On  the  part  of  those  bound,  they 
must  "obey  their  masters,  keep  his  secrets,  not  leave  his  house 
night  or  day  without  leave,  not  embezzle  his  goods  or  suffer  others 
to  do  it,  not  play  at  cards,  dice,  or  any  other  unlawful  game,  or 
frequent  taverns  or  tippling-houses."  Whether  these  promises 
were  faithfully  complied  with  or  not,  we  are  unable  to  say.  We 
shall  see  hereafter  that,  by  the  laws  of  the  Assembly,  the  very  same 
things  were  forbidden  the  clergy, — viz. :  cards,  dice,  and  other  un- 
lawful games ;  also  taverns  and  tippliug-houses  and  such  places :  but 
they  were  disregarded  by  many.  It  is,  however,  a  matter  of  re- 
joicing to  see  such  testimonies  to  good  morals  by  those  in  authority, 
and  by  legislative  acts,  even  though  contradicted  by  the  conduct 
of  those  who  bear  them.  •  In  the  most  corrupt  ages  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church  the  most  wholesome  laws  are  to  be  found  and  the  best 
forms  of  religion  have  been  used.  That  God  who  has  kept  the 
Bible  pure  through  so  many  ages  of  darkness  and  corruption  has 
also,  by  civil  and  ecclesiastical  legislatures  and  rulers,  preserved 
and  handed  down  many  most  faithful  expositions  of  its  moral  code- 
Some  faithful  ones  there  have  been  in  every  age  who  have  obeyed 
these  laws.  I  doubt  not  but  there  were  some  ministers  in  the 
darkest  age  of  the  Church  in  Virginia  who  obeyed  her  canons,  and 
some  masters  and  mistresses  who  fulfilled  pledges  to  orphans  and 
poor  unfortunates. 

I  now  return  to  the  history  of  the  ministers  of  Dettingen  parish. 
At  the  death  of  Mr.  James  Scott,  his  son,  the  Rev.  John  Scott,  was 
chosen  minister.  His  ministry  was  of  short  duration.  He  resigned 
the  following  year  on  account  of  ill  health,  and  died  soon  after. 
There  are  some  painful  circumstances  in  the  history  of  this  minister ; 
and,  as  they  have  been  misrepresented  and  made  worse  than  they 
really  were,  it  is  due  to  himself  and  posterity  to  make  a  correct 
statement.  Even  in  that  there  is  much  not  only  to  be  regretted, 
but  utterly  condemned, — the  spirit  of  the  times  affording  no  excuse 
which  should  for  a  moment  be  entertained.  Prom  a  letter  in  my 
possession,  I  think  it  probable  he  was  set  apart  for  the  ministry  in 
early  youth.  At  the  age  of  eighteen,  however,  he  was  engaged  in 
an  affair  which  showed  that  he  was  ill  qualified  for  it  at  that  time, — 
being  destitute  of  all  godliness, — however  changed  he  may  have  been 
afterward.  He  conceived  that  Ms  father  and  himself  had  been  in- 
sulted and  injured  by  the  misrepresentations  of  one  who,  according 
to  report,  was  a  most  unworthy  and  dangerous  man,  and  that  it 
was  his  duty  to  seek  reparation  by  a  resort  to  arms.  He  accord- 
ingly determined  to  challenge,  and  appliei  to  Mr.  Bullett,  his 


212  OLD   CHUECHES,   MINISTERS,    AND 

brother-tn-law,  to  be  with  Mm  In  the  contest.  Mr,  Bullett  dissuaded 
him  froia  the  challenge  in  a  letter,  which  I  have  in  my  possession, 
and  which  contains  some  of  the  many  unanswerable  arguments 
against  duelling.  Failing  in  his  effort,  he  attends  him  to  the  place 
of  combat, — the  end  of  Old  Quantico  Church,  where  the  father  of 
young  Scott  had  so  often  read  the  words  of  Jehovah  from  Mount 
Sinai,  a  Thou  shalt  do  no  murder."  The  result  was,  that  the  second, 
who  had  warned  against  the  act,  and  who,  it  was  supposed,  had 
gone  in  the  hope  of  preventing  the  contest,  was  so  treated  by  the 
challenged  man  on  the  ground  as  to  engage  in  a  contest  with  him, 
in  which  the  other  was  slain.  He  was  tried  and  unanimously  ac- 
quitted by  the  court  upon  the  ground  of  self-defence.  Mr.  Scott 
was  obliged  to  fly  the  country,  and,  with  his  younger  brother, 
Gustavus,  went  to  Scotland.  I  take  the  following  account  of  him 
while  in  Scotland,  and  after  his  return,  from  a  letter  written  by  one 
of  his  descendants: — 

"  Immediately  after  the  trial  and  acquittal  of  Mr.  Bullett,  my  grand- 
father and  his  younger  brother,  Gustavus,  left  this  country  for  Scotland. 
Soon  after  their  arrival  in  Scotland  they  entered  King's  College,  old 
Aberdeen,  where  they  finished  their  education.  My  grandfather,  who 
seems  to  have  taken  life  by  storm,  married,  while  a  student  of  King's 
College,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Thomas  Gordon,  one  of  the  professors.  He 
was  afterward  ordain*,*!  by  the  Bishop  of  London.  It  was  during  his  re- 
sidence in  Scotland  that  my  grandfather  formed  an  acquaintance  (which 
ripened  into  iv  friendship)  with  Sir  Eobert  Eden,  an  English  or  Scotch 
baronet.  When  Sir  Robert  was  appointed  Governor  of  Maryland,  he  in- 
vited my  grandfather  to  Annapolis,  promising  to  appoint  him  his  chaplain, 
and  to  use  his  influence  to  obtain  for  him  the  rich  parish  of  Eversharn. 
My  grandfather  readily  accepted  so  advantageous  an  offer,  and  soon  after 
sailed  for  America,  leaving  his  infant  son,  Robert  Eden  Scott,  (who  it  was 
feared  could  not  bear  a  three  months'  voyage,)  with  his  maternal  relatives. 
Upon  his  return  to  America,  he  proceeded  to  Annapolis,  was  appointed 
chaplain  to  the  Governor,  and  pastor  of  the  parish,  of  Eversham.  He  re- 
sided in  Maryland  until  the  war  between  the  Colonies  and  the  mother- 
country  broke  out.  An  Englishman  in  principle,  he  adhered  to  the  royal 
cause,  and,  taking  too  active  a  part  in  polities,  became  obnoxious  to  the 
Revolutionary  party, — into  whose  hands  the  government  had  passed, — 
and  was  banished  one  hundred  miles  from  tide-water.  Compelled  to  leave 
Maryland,  he  sold  his  property  there  for  Continental  money,  and  returned 
to  Virginia,  intending  to  return  to  Scotland  as  soon  as  he  could  make  the 
necessary  arrangements.  While  making  those  arrangements  he  resided 
on  his  plantation,  which  he  called  Gordonsdale,  after  the  name  of  Ms  wife. 
His  health  soon  after  failing,  he  was  advised  to  try  the  waters  of  Bath,  in 
Berkeley  county,  Virginia.  On  his  return  from  Bath  he  stopped  at  the 
residence  of  General  Wood,  who  had  married  his  cousin,  Miss  Moncure, — > 
died  there,  and  was  buried  under  the  pulpit  of  the  old  Episcopal  church 
in  Winchester.  Whether  he  was  pastor  of  any  parish  in  Fauquier,  I  am 
unable  to  say ;  but,  as  he  did  not  long  survive  his  banishment  from  Mary- 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA. 

land,  I  am  inclined  to  think  he  never  received  such  an  appointment*  My 
grandfather,  as  the  Bishop  has  no  doubt  heard,  was  a  man  of  fine  talents 
and  remarkable  eloquence,  as  well  as  the  handsomest  man  of  his  day.  His 
gayety  and  wit  caused  his  society  to  be  much  sought  after,  and,  frum  all 
that  I  have  heard,  rather  unfitted  him  for  his  sacred  profession.  After  his 
death,  my  grandmother,  who  had  been  summoned  to  Winchester  to  receive 
his  expiring  adieu,  returned  to  Gordonsdale.  The  distracted  condition 
of  the  country  (the  Revolutionary  War  was  then  at  its  height)  compelled 
her  to  relinquish  all  hope  of  a  return  to  her  native  country.  She  continued 
to  reside  at  Gordonsdale,  devoting  herself  to  the  education  of  her  chil- 
dren,— a  task  for  which  she  was  eminently  fitted,  since  she  had  received  a 
college  education.  She  lived  to  see  her  children  grown  and  settled  in  life, 
and  died  lamented.  Several  years  before  her  death  she  had  the  pleasure 
of  welcoming  to  Virginia  her  eldest  aon,  Robert  Eden  Scott,  and,  although 
twenty-one  years  had  elapsed  since  she  had  left  him  an  infant  in  Scotland, 
she  recognised  him  immediately.  During  his  visit  to  Virginia  he  received 
the  office  of  a  professorship  in  King's  College,  old  Aberdeen,  where  he  had 
received  his  education  and  his  maternal  ancestors  had  held  professorships 
for  three  hundred  years.  He  returned  to  Scotland,  was  made  professor 
of  mathematics,  married  a  daughter  of  Sir  William  Forbes,  and  died  young 
and  childless/' 

To  the  above  notice  of  Mr.  Scott  I  add  a  report,  which  is  not 
improbable,  that,  at  the  time  he  was  summoned  before  the  Council 
at  Annapolis  to  give  an  account  of  Ms  anti- American  principles, 
Robert  Goodloe  Harper,  t&en  a  young  lawyer,  was  called  in  to 
examine  him,  and  ever  afterward  spoke  of  him  as  the  most  talented 
man  with  whom  he  had  ever  engaged  in  controversy.  After  the 
resignation  of  the  Bev,  John  Scott  in  1784,  the  Rev.  Spence 
Grayson  was  chosen  minister.  How  long  he  continued  such  we 
do  not  know ;  nor  can  we  say  any  thing  concerning  him  or  his 
ministry, — though  our  impression  is  that  he  was  a  worthy  man. 
The  vestry-records  end  with  the  year  1785.  At  the  last  meeting 
vestrymen  were  elected  under  the  new  organization  of  the  Church, 
a  delegate  appointed  to  the  Convention,  and  an  order  made  to  raise 
funds  for  the  support  of  the  minister, — as  nothing  now  remained 
but  the  glebe,  which  was  of  little  value.  Although  an  order  was 
passed  that  the  records  of  the  vestry  should  be  handed  over  by  the 
aid  clerk  to  the  clerk  of  the  new  vestry,  it  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  overseers  of  the  poor ;  and,  some  blank  leaves  being  left  in  the 
vestry-book,  the  proceedings  of  the  latter  body  were  for  a  few  years 
recorded  on  them.  In  this  way  it  happened  that  the  vestry-book 
came  into  the  possession  of  the  court*  I  have  petitioned  the  court 
to  have  it  sent  for  safe-keeping  to  our  fireproof  library  at  the 

*  In  this  the  writer  is  mistaken,  as  the  vestry-book  shows  that  he  was  minister 
in  Dettingea  parish  nearly  two  years. 


214  OLD   CHtRCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

Theological  Seminary  of  the  Episcopal  Church  near  Alexandria, 
to  ^hich,  I  hope,  many  such  documents  will  be  transmitted.  We 
have  no  certain  accounts  of  any  successor  to  Mr.  Grayson ;  but  it  ia 
confidently  believed  that  the  Rev.  Thomas  Harrison  was  the  minister 
for  some  years  after  Mr.  Grayson's  death,  as  his  name  appears  in 
the  list  of  the  overseers  of  the  poor  from  1792  to  1802,  when  it 
disappears,  and  when  he  either  probably  died  or  resigned.  I  have 
been  unable  to  obtain  any  reliable  accounts  of  Mr.  Harrison.  His 
name  is  nowhere  to  be  seen  on  any  of  the  lists  of  the  clergy  which 
I  have.  My  old  friend,  Mr.  Samuel  Slaughter,  of  Culpepper,  (now 
eighty-eight  years  of  age,)  told  me,  during  the  last  summer,  that  he 
went  to  school  to  him  in  Culpepper  when  he  was  minister  of  Bloom- 
field  parish,  and  that  he  afterward  moved  over  to  Prince  William. 
He  was  the  father  of  a  numerous  offspring  of  sons  and  daughters,  who 
became  scattered  over  the  land.  The  late  Mr.  Phil.  Harrison,  of 
Richmond,  was  one  of  his  sons,  who  are  said  to  have  been  nine  in 
number.  1  became  acquainted  with  one  of  the  families  many  years 
"since  near  Dumfries.  Its  members  were  then  preparing  to  move 
to  the  South.  On  the  first  page  of  the  vestry-book  of  Dettingen 
parish,  I  find  a  leaf  taken  from  the  old  Overwharton  vestry-book 
and  fastened  to  the  latter, — doubtless  by  Mr.  Harrison, — in  which 
there  is  the  following  genealogy,  taken  from  the  parish  record  of 
St.  Margaret's,  Westminster,  and  certified  by  Richard  Gibson, 
London : — 

"  Burr  Harrison j  of  Chappawamsic,  born  in  England,  son  of  Cuthbert 
Harrison,  baptized  in  the  parish  of  St.  Margaret's,  Westminster,  28th 
December,  1637.  His  sou  Thomas  bora  in  1665 ;  grandson  Burr  bora 
May  21,  1699;  great-grandson  Thomas  born  3d  of  March,  1723;  hia 
sister  Jane  the  9th  of  December,  1726;  his  sister  Seth  the  30th  of 
November,  1729." 

This  last  Thomas  Harrison  was,  I  suppose,  the  minister.  There 
was  doubtless  an  intermarriage  between  the  Powells,  of  Loudon 
county,  and  the  Harrisons,  of  Prince  William,  from  which  it  comes 
that  the  names  Guthbert  and  Burr  are  so  often  to  be  found  in  these 
families*  Whether  all  of  the  above  were  born  in  England,  or  some 
of  them  in  this  country,  I  am  unable  to  say.  There  was  a  Thomas 
Harrison  belonging  to  Broad  Bun  Church,  in  Dettingen  parish, 
long  before  the  Rev,  Mr.  Harrison  appears  in  the  parish,  and  maj 
have  been  his  father.  After  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Harrison, 
the  Rev.  Mr*  O'Neal  officiated  for  a  short  time.  He  died  after  ] 
entered  the  ministry ;  but  I  never  met  with  him.  No  clerical  dele 
gate,  and  only  one  lay  delegate, — Mr.  Jesse  Ewell, — ever  appears  it 


FAMILIES    OF    VIRGINIA.  215 

the  Conventions  of  Virginia  from  Dettingen  parish.  It  only 
remains  that  I  mention,  for  the  satisfaction  of  their  posterity, 
the  lay  readers  and  vestrymen  of  this  old  parish  during  the  fifty 
years  of  which  the  records  testify.  At  Broad  Run  we  find  the 
names  of  John  Bryant,  William  Peyton,  Joseph  Sherman,  James 
Gray,  George  Carter.  At  Quantico  Church,  Mr.  Thomas  Machem 
or  Mitchem,  John  Peyton,  Jeremiah  Moore,  lay  readers.  The 
following  are  the  names  of  the  vestrymen  of  this  parish  during  the 
fifty  years  of  its  recorded  proceedings : — Peyton,  Rearser,  Butler, 
Deskin,  Linton,  Renno,  Blackburn,  Furguson,  Ewell,  Seale,  Gray- 
son,  Baxter,  Whetlige,  Fouchee,  Rust,  Roussan,  Crump,  Frogg,  Har- 
rison, Wright,  Bullett,  Wickliffe,  Bell,  Copedge,  Thornton,  Elsey, 
Betty,  Eustace,  Blackwell,  Waggener,  Nisbett,  Kennor,  Tibbs, 
Triplett,  Carr,  Lee,  Baylis,  Buchanon,  Bennett,  Hoe,  Alexander, 
Fitzhugh,  Kincheloe,  Washington,  Guatkin,  M'Millon.  The  names 
of  Adie  and  Tompkins  are  mentioned  as  men  of  uprightness,  to 
whom  the  vestry  and  minister  referred  some  important  matters  of 
difference  for  decision.  The  Lees,  Peytons,  Blackburns,  and  Ewells 
appear  to  have  been  most  numerous  and  prominent  in  the  vestries. 
After  a  failure  of  all  efforts  for  the  resuscitation  of  the  Church 
in  Dumfries,  our  attention  was  directed  to  the  other  parts  of  the 
parish  of  Dettingen.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Steel,  beginning  in  1822,  la- 
boured for  some  years  with  partial  success,  and  built  a  small  church 
in  the  centre  of  the  parish.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Slaughter  followed  him 
in  1835,  and  preached  with  more  success  at  Brentsville — the  new 
county  seat — and  at  Hay-Market.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Skull  succeeded 
Mr.  Slaughter  at  the  same  places.  The  Rev,  Mr.  Towles  has  now 
for  many  years  been  faithfully  and  acceptably  serving  the  parish. 
A  new  and  excellent  stone  church  has  been  built  at  Brenfcs?ille ; 
and  the  old  court-house  at  Hay-Market  has  been  purchased  and 
converted  into  a  handsome  and  convenient  temple  of  religion.  A 
race-course  once  adjoined  the  eourt-house,  and  in  preaching  there 
in  former  days  I  have,  on  a  Sabbath,  seen  from  the  court-house 
bench,  on  which  I  stood,  the  horses  in  training  for  the  sport 
was  at  hand.  Those  times  have,  I  trust,  passed  away  forever. 


216  OLD   CHUKCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 


ARTICLE  LXVL 

Hamilton  and  Leeds  Parishes,  Fauquier  County. 

AFTER  the  division  of  the  former  parish  of  Hamilton  into  Det* 
tingen  and  Hamilton,  in  the  year  1745,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Keith  con- 
tinned  to  be  minister  in  Hamilton,  How  long  he  had  been  minister 
of  the  whole  parish  is  not  known ;  neither  have  I  been  able  to  as- 
certain how  long  he  continued  to  be  minister  of  Hamilton  parish 
after  the  division,  only  that  in  1758  the  Rev.  Joseph  Brunskill  was 
the  minister.  The  vestry-book,  which  could  have  informed  us,  was 
placed  in  the  Clerk's  office,  and  there  torn  up,  page  after  page,  by 
the  clerks  or  others,  for  the  purpose  of  lighting  cigars  or  pipes. 
Of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Keith  and  his  descendants  I  have  not  been  able 
to  obtain  all  the  information  I  desire  and  hope  for.  From  all  that 
I  can  learn,  he  was  a  worthy  man.  He  was  a  native  of  Scotland. 
Being  involved  in  the  rebellion  in  favour  of  the  Pretender,  he  was 
forced  to  fly  his  country,  and  came  to  Virginia.  Returning  to 
England  for  Orders,  he  was  then  settled  in  Hamilton  parish,  and 
performed  the  duties  of  Ms  office  there  for  a  long  time, — probably 
until  1757  or  1758.  A  daughter  of  his  married  Colonel  Thomas 
Marshall,  of  Oakhill,  Fauquier,  the  seat  of  the  Marshalls  to  this 
day.  He  was  the  father  of  the  late  Chief-Justice.  Both  father 
and  son  were  in  the  Revolutionary  Army,  and  fought  together  at 
the  battle  of  Monmouth.  Another  of  Mr.  Keith's  children  was 
the  Clerk  of  Frederick  county,  Virginia,  who  so  long  and  faith- 
fully performed  the  duties  of  that  office.  The  descendants  of  Mr." 
Keith  are  numerous.  They  are  also  devoted  members  of  the  Epis- 
copal Church.  After  the  division  of  the  parish  of  Hamilton,  Mr. 
Keith  served,  until  his  death,  all  that  region  now  embraced  in 
Fauquier  county,  as  it  was  not  until  1769  that  Leeds  parish  was 
cut  off.  I  am  unable  to  ascertain  how  many  churches  there  were 
then  in  that  part  now  making  the  parish  of  Leeds.  I  can  only 
speak  of  the  two  in  that  which  is  now  Hamilton, — namely,  Elk  Run 
and  Turkey  Run  Churches,  both  of  which  I  have  often  seen,  and 
in  one  of  which  I  have  preached.  Elk  Run  Church  was  about 
fifteen  miles,  I  think,  below  Fauquier  Court-House,  on  the  road  to 
Fredericksburg,  upon  a  small  stream  from  which  it  took  its  name, 
It  was  a  substantial  brick  church, — cruciform,  I  believe.  I  am  not 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  217 

certain  that  the  roof  was  on  it  when  I  first  saw  it,  in  1811.  Its 
walls  continued  for  many  years  after  this,  and  I  saw  them  gradu 
ally  disappear  during  my  annual  visits  to  the  Conventions.  The 
other  was  called  the  Turkey  Run  Church,  and  was  situated  about 
a  mile  helow  Fauquier  Court-House.  It  was  an  old  frame  church, 
which,  after  the  erection  of  one  at  the  court-house,  was  carried 
away  and  converted  into  a  barn,  and  is  still  used  as  such.  It  was 
here  I  first  met  with  Bishop  Moore,  after  his  arrival  in  Virginia  in 
1815.  His  preaching  was  very  melting.  I  saw  an  old  Episcopalian 
wiping  the  tears  from  his  eyes  during  the  sermon,  but,  on  speaking 
to  him  afterward  about  the  Bishop's  preaching,  was  surprised  to 
hear  him  say  that  the  Bishop  was  nothing  but  a  Methodist,  so  differ- 
ent was  his  style  and  manner  from  what  had  hitherto  been  common 
in  Episcopal  pulpits.  The  Bishop  confirmed  fifty  persons  at  that 
time,  the  most  of  whom  came  forward  in  ignorance  of  the  proper 
qualifications  for  this  rite,  or  of  the  nature  of  true  religion.  Such 
was  the  case  with  many  other  congregations  at  the  Bishop's  earlier 
visits,  some  of  which  had  no  ministers,  and  others  new  ones,  so  that 
due  precautions  could  not  be  easily  taken  to  prevent  unsuitable 
persons  from  coming  forward.  It  injured  the  Church  and  the 
Bishop  not  a  little  for  some  time.  He  once  told  me  that  he  really 
feared  to  hold  a  Confirmation  in  a  new  place,  lest  some  unworthy 
candidates  should  come  forward.  Of  the  ministers  who  succeeded 
Mr.  Keith,  but  little  is  known.  In  the  year  1758,  the  Eev.  Joseph 
Brunskill  was  the  minister.*  In  the  year  1774,  the  Rev,  James 

*  Since  writing  the  article  on  Hamilton  parish,  I  have  learnt  something  concern- 
ing the  Rev.  Mr.  Brunskill  which  deserves  to  be  noticed,  especially  as  it  is  connected 
with  the  question  of  discipline  in  the  Colonial  Church.  He  was  a  notorious  evil- 
liver,  being  given  to  intemperance  and  other  vices.  His  vestry  complained  of  him 
to  Governor  Dinwiddie,  who  summoned  him  and  Ms  accusers,  with  their  witnesses, 
to  Williamsburg.  They  appeared  before  the  Governor  and  Council,  Commissary 
Dawson  being  one  of  the  Council.  Being  found  guilty,  the  Governor  ordered  the 
vestry  to  dismiss  him  and  choose  another  minister.  On  his  return  to  the  parish, 
Mr.  Brunskill  posted  the  Governor  and  Council  on  the  church-door,  and  perhaps 
elsewhere,  declaring  that  they  had  no  jurisdiction  in  the  case,  and  adding  in  tho 
same  notice  a  canon  of  the  English  Church,  whereby  none  but  a  Bishop  could  pass 
sentence  on  a  clergyman,  f  he  justification  of  the  Governor  was,  that,  although 
none  but  a  Bishop  could  absolutely  deprive  of  Orders,  yet  the  Governor,  as  supreme 
ruler  in  Virginia,  and  representing  the  Crown,  which  was  chief  in  Church  and 
State  in  England,  had  a  right  and  was  bound  to  exercise  some  discipline  and  prevent 
such  dishonour  to  religion,  and  that,  as  ministers  were  tried  before  the  civil  courts 
in  England,  so  Mr.  Bmnskill  had  been  tried  before  the  Governor  and  Council,  which 
was  the  supreme  court  in  Virginia.  Commissary  Bawson  entertained  some  doubt 
as  to  the  canonical  regularity  of  the  proceeding  but  in  a  letter  to  the  Bishop  of 
London  justified  it  on  the  ground  of  necessity 


218  OLD   CHJRCHBS,   .MINISTERS,   AND 

Craig  Is  minister.  After  Mr.  Craig,  I  hear  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kennor 
from  Hanover  parish,  King  George,  and  the  Key.  Mr.  Iredell,  from 
Culpepper,  as  living  in  the  parish  and  preaching, — neither  of  whom 
was  very  creditable  to  the  Church.  In  the  year  1805,  the  Rev, 
Mr.  O'Neale  and  Mr.  Charles  Marshall  appear  as  delegates  in  the 
Convention,  as  minister  and  lay  delegate.  Mr.  O'Neale  taught 
school  in  Warrenton  for  some  years,  and  then  removed  to  Dumfries, 
and  died  since  I  entered  the  ministry.  Most  prostrate  was  the 
Condition  of  the  parish  in  the  year  1812  or  1813,  when  I  first  visited 
it.  There  was  no  house  of  worship  at  Warrenton  belonging  to  any 
denomination,  and  the  old  Turkey  Run'  Church  was  inconvenient, 
so  that  the  service  was  held  in  the  court-house.  Notice  being  given 
that  I  would  preach  at  three  or  four  o'clock  on  a  certain  day  during 
the  session  of  the  court,  a  large  crowd  assembled  from  the  country 
around  to  hear  a  young  Virginia  Episcopalian.  It  so  happened 
that  a  very  important  case  detained  the  court  beyond  the  appointed 
hour  of  worship.  The  people,  however,  gradually  filled  the  house 
and  hemmed  in  the  lawyers.  The  ladies  ascended  the  bench  on 
which  judges  and  magistrates  sat,  and  enclosed  the  judge,  until  at 
length  the  business  of  the  court  was  obliged  to  stop,  and  neither 
judge  nor  lawyers  could  escape.  The  house  being  completely  filled, 
I  was  sent  for,  and,  being  unable  to  pass  through  the  crowd,  was 
raised  up  through  the  window  and  put  into  the  sheriff *s  box,  from 
which  I  preached. 

About  this  time,  the  Episcopalians  and  Presbyterians  proposed 
to  build  a  church  in  conjunction.  It  was  commenced,  and  a  waL 
was  put  up  and  a  roof  completed.  Some  difficulty  arising  between 
the  partners,  as  is  generally  the  case,  the  Episcopalians  determined 
to  build  one  for  themselves,  without  relinquishing  their  claim  on 
the  unfinished  one.  Accordingly,  a  frame  building  was  put  up  and 
consecrated  as  an  Episcopal  Church.  This  was  used  until  within  a 
few  years.  A  still  better  one  of  brick  now  receives  the  increasing 
congregation,  under  its  faithful  and  zealous  minister,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Norton,  whose  father  and  myself  became  candidates  for  the  ministry 
at  the  same  time.  His  lot  was  cast  in  Western  New  York,  though 
by  birth  a  Virginian.  He  still  lives,  a  venerable  though  disabled 
minister. 

LEEDS  PARISH,  FAUQU1JSK. 

This  parish,  as  we  have  seen  already,  was  taken  out  of  Hamilton 
m  the  year  1769,  The  first  and  only  minister,  before  the  Rev, 
Mr.  Lemmon  took  charge  of  it  in  1816,  was  the  Rev.  James  Thorn- 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGDJIA.  219 

son,  from  Scotland,  born  near  Glasgow,  in  the  year  1739,  and  who 
died  in  February,  1812.  He  came  to  this  country  in  1767  or  1768. 
He  lived  at  first  in  the  family  of  Colonel  Thomas  Marshall,  of 
Oakhill,  and  instructed  his  sons,  John  Marshall,  afterward  Chief- 
Justice,  James  Marshall,  and  others.  In  1769,  he  went  to  Eng- 
land for  Orders.  On  his  return,  he  married  Miss  Mary  Ann  Far- 
row, sister  of  the  late  Nimrod  Farrow,  of  Leeds  Manor,  and  settled 
at  the  glebe,  near  Salem,  where  he  had  a  school,  to  which  some  of 
the  sons  of  Mr.  Thomas  Marshall  were  sent  to  him  again.  Mr. 
Thomson,  at  the  coming  on  of  the  Revolution,  partook  largely  of 
the  spirit  -which  animated  Colonel  Marshall  and  his  son,  the  Chief- 
Justice.  In  a  sermon  preached  at  the  time  of  the  first  difficulties 
at  Boston,  he  thus  speaks : — 

"You  have  all  heard  before  now  of  the  measures  taken  by  the  British 
Parliament  to  deprive  his  Majesty's  subjects  of  these  Colonies  of  their  just 
and  legal  rights,  by  imposing  several  taxes  upon  them  destructive  of  their 
liberties  as  British  subjects.  And  to  enforce  those  acts  they  have  for 
some  time  blocked  up  the  harbour  of  the  city  of  Boston  with  ships-of- 
war,  and  overawed  the  inhabitants  by  British  troops.  By  which  illegal 
steps,  the  people  in  general  have  endured  great  hardships  by  being  deprived 
of  their  trade,  and  the  poor  reduced  to  great  want.  It  is  therefore  incum- 
bent upon  every  one  of  us,  as  men  and  Christians,  cheerfully  to  contribute 
according  to  our  ability  toward  their  relief.  And  as  we  know  not  how 
soon  their  case  may  be  our  own,  I  would  likewise  recommend  to  you  to 
contribute  something  toward  supplying  the  country  with  arms  and  ammu- 
nition, that  if  we  be  attacked  we  may  be  in  a  posture  of  defence.  And 
I  make  no  doubt  that  what  you  bestow  in  this  manner  will  be  employed 
in  the  use  you  intend  it  for.  If  you  want  to  be  better  informed  with 
respect  to  the  Acts  which  have  been  passed  with  a  view  to  impose  illegal 
tases  upon  us  and  deprive  us  of  our  liberties,  I  shall  refer  you  to  the 
gentlemen  of  the  committee  for  this  county,  who  will  satisfy  you  on  thai, 
head." 

Mr.  Thomson,  from  the  memoranda  on  a  number  of  sermons 
or  fragments  of  sermons  I  have  seen,  seemed  to  have  been  punctual 
in  preaching  in  four  churches, — Taylor's  Church,  not  very  far  from 
Warrenton,  Goose  Creek  Church,  near  Salem,  Old  Bull  Bun 
Church,  whose  location  I  cannot  specify,  and  Piper's  Church,  in 
Leeds  Manor,  not  one  of  which  are  BOW  standing.  They  were,  I 
suppose,  all  badly-built  wooden  churches,  which  soon  came  to  ruin* 
I  never  saw  Mr.  Thomson,  though  he  lived  in  a  neighbouring  parish 
and  did  not  die  until  the  year  after  I  entered  the  ministry.  From 
an  examination  of  some  of  Ms  sermons,  or  parts  of  sermons,  I 
should  say  that  they  were  marked  by  more  taste  and  talent  than 
most  of  those  which  have  been  submitted  to  my  perusal.  But  the 
Episcopal  Church  from  various  causes  failed,  and  almost  disap- 


220  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AKD 

pearedj  under  his  ministry.     Other  denominations  took  possession 
of  the  ground  which  was  once  entirely  ours. 

My  nearness  to  Leeds  parish,  and  its  position  being  such  that 
I  must  pass  through  it  on  my  numerous  visits  to  other  parts  of 
Virginia,  caused  me  to  preach  more  frequently  there  than  in  any 
of  the  surrounding  parishes.  Mr.  Thomas  Marshall,  eldest  son  of 
the  Chief-Justice,  lived  at  the  old  homestead  of  the  Marshalls, 
Oakhill,  on  the  road  to  TFarrington  and  Fredericksburg.  He  was 
one  of  my  earliest  and  dearest  Christian  friends.  He  became  a 
communicant  at  an  early  period.  He  often  begged  that,  in  any 
efforts  I  might  make  for  the  promotion  of  religion,  which  required 
pecuniary  aid,  I  would  consider  him  as  ready  to  afford  it.  Mr, 
Thomas  Ambler,  a  nephew  of  Judge  Marshall,  and  an  old  school- 
mate of  my  early  years,  lived  in  the  same  neighbourhood.  Cool 
Spring  Meeting-house  lay  between  them.  At  this  I  often  preached, 
and  it  was  the  place  where  Mr.  Lemmon  officiated  until  perhaps  the 
close  of  his  labour**  in  that  parish.  The  Marshalls  and  Amblers 
continued  to  settle  in  this  neighbourhood,  until  they  have  become 
two  small  congregations,  or  rather  important  parts  of  two  congre- 
gations. The  children  of  my  esteemed  friend,  Mr.  Thomas  Mar- 
shall, six  in  pumber,  settled  in  sight  of  each  other,  on  the  estate 
of  their  father,  and  are  all  living.*  The  Peytons,  Turners,  Be- 
verleys,  Hendersons,  and  others,  descendants  of  Episcopal  families, 
still  adhere  to  the  old  Church,  and  are  active  in  seeking  its  resus- 
citation. In  the  year  1816,  the  Rev.  George  Lemmon,  of  Balti- 
more, wko  graduated  at  Princeton  College  a  year  or  two  before 
me,  took  charge  of  both  Hamilton  and  Leeds  parishes,  and  conti- 
nued to  be  the  minister,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  years  spent 
in  Hagerstown,  Maryland,  until  his  death.  In  my  report  to  the 
Convention  of  1847,  I  find  the  following  notice  of  him: — 

tl  In  the  death  of  the  Bev.  Mr.  Lemmon,  the  Church  has  parted  with  one 
who  bad  grown  old  and  gray  in  her  service,  having  devoted  all  his  strength 
of  body  and  mind  to  the  promotion  of  her  welfare.  He  who  now  addresses 
you  has  lost  his  earliest  and  oldest  brother  in  the  ministry.  Our  acquaint- 
ance, our  friendship,  our  choice  of  the  ministry,  are  all  of  the  same  date, 
and  reach  back  to  forty  years  save  one.  During  all  this  period  we  have 
been  living  in  the  most  intimate  communion  of  soul.  A  sounder  theo- 
logian, a  more  true-hearted  minister,  a  more  sincere  Christian,  I  have  never 
known." 

Never  was  there  a  minister  more  esteemed  and  beloved  by  Ms 


*  Mr.  Marshall  was  killed  by  the  falling  of  a  brick  upon  ills  head  in  Baltimore, 
tn  his  way  to  Philadelphia  to  see  his  father,  who  died  there  a  few  days  after. 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  221 

people  of  all  ages  and  characters.  His  preaching-talents  were  not 
attractive,  on  account  of  the  harshness  of  his  voice,  but  he  was  faith- 
ful to  the  truth,  and  understood  how  to  present  it  experimentally 
to  the  people.  His  forte  was  in  private  intercourse  as  a  pastor 
and  gentleman.  Though  strict  in  his  views  of  fashionable  amuse- 
ments, in  which  the  young  are  apt  to  delight,  yet  so  tender,  cour- 
teous, and  loving  was  he,  that  the  young  were  ever  pleased  with 
his  company  and  conversation.  It  is  delightful  to  hear  him  spoken 
of  to  this  day  by  his  old  parishioners.  His  health  was  very  im- 
perfect for  many  years,  and  his  ministrations  very  irregular ;  yet 
such  was  the  attachment  of  his  people  in  both  congregations,  that 
they  bore  it  almost  without  complaining.  The  active  friends  of  the 
Church  and  Mr.  Lemmon  were  Colonel  Randolph,  of  Eastern  view, 
(who  was  always  sure  to  be  at  the  minister's  house  on  the  first  day 
of  each  year  with  his  subscription  of  one  hundred  dollars,)  the 
Homers,  the  Bells,  the  Withers,  Smiths,  Paines,  Edmonds,  Hen- 
dersons, Fitzhughs,  Digges,  and  others,  in  Hamilton  parish,  and 
the  Marshalls,  Amblers,  Scotts,  Adamses,  Carters,  Chunns,  and 
others,  in  Leeds  parish.  In  Hamilton  parish  Mr.  Lemmon  was  suc- 
ceeded by  the  present  rector,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Norton,  in  the  year  1847, 
under  whose  ministry  the  congregation  has  greatly  increased,  and 
by  whose  enterprise,  aided  by  the  zeal  of  some  untiring  ladies,  a 
new  church  has  been  built  at  the  cost  of  seven  or  eight  thousand 
dollars.  I  have  mentioned  before  that  Judge  Marshall  had  BO*' 
hope  of  the  revival  of  the  Church  in  Virginia,  though  contributing 
liberally  to  the  efforts  made  for  it.  He  lived  to  see  himself  mis- 
taken, and  to  unite  with  his  children  and  grandchildren  in  the 
services  of  our  resuscitated  Church  in  the  very  place  of  his  nativity 
and  amid  the  scenes  of  his  early  life.  In  my  frequent  visits  to 
Coolspring  and  Oakhill,  I  often  met  with  him,  as  I  had  dofe  at  my 
father's  house,  and  other  places  in  Frederick,  in  more  boyish  days. 
Though  not  a  communicant,  he  was  the  sincere  friend  to  religion 
and  the  Episcopal  Church.  I  can  never  forget  how  he  would  pros- 
trate his  tall  form  before  the  rude  low  benches,  without  backs,  at 
Coolspring  Meeting-House,  in  the  midst  of  his  children  and  grand- 
children and  his  old  neighbours.  In  Richmond  he  always  set  an 
example  to  the  gentlemen  of  the  same  conformity,  though  many  of 
them  did  not  follow  it.  At  the  building  of  the  Monumental  Church 
he  was  much  incommoded  by  the  narrowness  of  the  pews,  which 
partook  too  much  of  the  modern  fashion.  Not  finding  room  enough 
for  his  whole  body  within  the  pew,  he  used  to  take  his  seat  nearest 
the  door  of  his  pew,  and,  throwing  it  open,  let  his  legs  stretch  a 


222  OLD   CHUKCHES,  MINISTERS,  AND 

little  Into  the  aisle.  This  I  have  seen  with  my  own  eyes.  He  was 
a  most  conscientious  man  in  regard  to  some  things  which  others 
might  regard  as  too  trivial  to  be  observed,  It  was  my  privilege 
more  than  once  to  travel  with  him  between  Fauquier  and  Frede- 
ricksburg,  when  we  were  both  going  to  the  lower  country.  On  one 
occasion,  the  roads  being  in  their  worst  condition,  when  we  came 
to  that  most  miry  part  called  the  "Black  Jack,"  we  found  that 
the  travellers  through  it  had  taken  a  nearer  and  better  road  through 
a  plantation.  The  fence  being  down,  or  very  low,  I  was  proceed- 
ing to  pass  over,  but  he  said  we  had  better  go  round,  although  each 
fitep  was  a  plunge,  adding  that  it  was  his  duty,  as  one  in  office,  to  be 
very  particular  in  regard  to  such  things.  As  to  some  other  matters, 
however,  he  was  not  so  particular.  Although  myself  never  much 
given  to  dress  or  equipage,  yet  I  was  not  at  all  ashamed  to  com- 
pare with  him  during  these  travels,  whether  as  to  clothing,  horsr*, 
saddle,  or  bridle.  Servant  he  had  none.  Federalist  as  he  was  in 
politics,  in  his  manners  and  habits  he  was  truly  republican.  Would 
that  all  republicans  were  like  Mm  in  this  respect !  He  was  fond  of 
agriculture,  and  to  gratify  himself,  and  for  the  sake  of  exercise,  he 
purchased  a  small  farm  a  few  miles  from  Richmond,  to  which  he 
often  went.  On  one  of  my  visits  to  Richmond,  being  in  a  street 
near  his  house,  between  daybreak  and  sunrise  one  morning,  I  met 
him  on  horseback,  with  a  bag  of  clover-seed  lying  before  him,  which 
he  was  carrying  to  his  farm,  it  being  the  time  of  sowing  such  seed, 
But  the  most  Interesting  and  striking  feature  in  the  domestic  cha- 
racter of  this  truly  great  and  good  man  was  the  tender  and  assidu- 
ous attentions  paid  to  his  afflicted  companion.  Mrs.  Marshall  was 
nervous  in  the  extreme.  The  least  noise  was  sometimes  agony  to 
her  whole  frame,  and  his  perpetual  endeavour  was  to  keep  the  house 
and  yard  and  outhouses  as  free  as  possible  from  the  slightest  cause 
of  distressing  her;  walking  himself  at  times  about  the  house  and 
yard  without  shoes.  On  one  occasion,  when  she  was  in  her  most 
distressing  state,  the  town  authorities  of  Richmond  manifested  their 
great  respect  for  him,  and  sympathy  for  her,  by  having  either  the 
town-clock  or  town-bell  muffled.  I  am  sure  that  every  Virginian 
will  excuse  this  digression.* 


*  The  strength  as  well  as  tenderness  of  Judge  Marshall's  attachment  to  Mrs. 
Marshall  will  appear  from  the  following  affecting  tribute  to  her  memory,  written  by 
himself,  December  25,  1832:— 

"  This  day  of  joy  and  festivity  to  the  whole  Christian  world  is,  to  my  sad  heart, 
fche  anniversary  of  the  keenest  affliction  which  humanity  can  sustain.  While  all 


FAMILIES   OP  VIRGINIA.  223 

I  have  nothing  more  to  say  of  Leeds  parish,  but  that  during  the 
:ew  years  of  Mr.  Lemmon's  stay  at  Hagerstown,  the  Rer.  Mr. 

tround  is  gladness,  my  mind  dwells  on  the  silent  tomb,  and  cherishes  the  remem- 
brance of  the  beloved  object  which  it  contains. 

"On  the  25th  of  December,  1831,  it  was  the  will  of  Heaven  to  take  to  itself  the 
companion  who  had  sweetened  the  choicest  part  of  my  life,  had  rendered  toil  a 
pleasure,  had  partaken  of  all  my  feelings,  and  was  enthroned  in  the  inmost  recess 
of  my  heart.  Never  can  I  cease  to  feel  the  loss  and  to  deplore  it.  Grief  for  her  ia 
too  sacred  ever  to  be  profaned  on  this  day,  which  shall  be,  during  my  existence, 
marked  by  a  recollection  of  her  virtues. 

'*  On  the  3d  of  January,  1783,  I  was  united  by  the  holiest  bonds  to  the  woman  I 
adored.  From  the  moment  of  our  union  to  that  of  our  separation,  I  never  ceased 
to  thank  Heaven  for  this  its  best  gift.  Not  a  moment  passed  in  which  I  did  not 
consider  her  as  a  "blessing  from  which  the  chief  happiness  of  my  life  was  derived. 
This  never-dying  sentiment,  originating  in  love,  was  cherished  by  a  long  and  close 
observation  of  as  amiable  and  estimable  qualities  as  ever  adorned  the  female  bosom. 
To  a  person  which  in  youth  was  very  attractive,  to  manners  uncommonly  pleasing, 
she  added  a  fine  understanding,  and  the  sweetest  temper  which  can  accompany  a 
just  and  modest  sense  of  what  was  due  to  herself.  She  was  educated  with  a  pro- 
found reverence  for  religion,  which  she  preserved  to  her  last  moments.  This  senti- 
ment, among  her  earliest  and  deepest  impressions,  gave  a  colouring  to  her  whole  life. 
Hers  was  the  religion  taught  by  the  Saviour  of  man.  She  was  a  firm  believer  in 
the  faith  inculcated  by  the  Church  (Episcopal)  in  which  she  was  bred. 

*<  I  have  lost  her,  and  with  her  have  lost  the  solace  of  my  life !  Yet  she  remains 
still  the  companion  of  my  retired  hours,  still  occupies  my  inmost  bosom.  When 
alone  and  unemployed,  my  mind  still  recurs  to  her.  More  ihan  a  thousand  times 
since  the  25th  of  December,  1881,  have  I  repeated  to  myself  the  beautiful  lines 
written  by  General  Burgoyne,  tinder  a,  similar  affliction,  substituting  *  Mary*  for 
*Anna:'— 

"  4EncompassJd  in  an  angel's  frame, 

An  angel's  virtues  lay ; 
Too  soon  did  Heaven  assert  its  claim 

And  take  its  own  away  I 
My  Mary's  worth,  my  Mary's  charms. 

Can  never  more  return ! 
What  now  shall  fill  these  widowed  anas  ? 

Ah  me!  my  Mary's  urn ! 

Ah  me  I  ah  me !  my  Mary's  urn!* " 

As  to  the  religious  opinions  of  Judge  Marshall,  the  following  extract  from  a  letter 
of  the  Bev,  Mr.  Norwood  may  be  entirely  relied  on : — 

"I  have  read  some  remarks  of  yours  in  regard  to  Cfcief-Jostlce  Marshall,  whieix 
have  suggested  to  me  to  eommiraicale  to  you  the  following  facts,  which  may  be  use- 
fol  should  yon  again  publish  any  thing  in  relation  to  his  religions  opinions.  I  often 
visited  Mrs.  General  Harvey  during  her  last  illness.  From  her  I  received  this  state- 
ment. She  was  much  with  her  father  during  the  last  months  of  tis  life,  and  told 
me  that  the  reason  why  be  never  communed  was,  that  be  was  a  Unitarian  in  opinion, 
though  he  never  joined  their  society.  He  told  her  that  he  believed  in  the  truth  of 
the  Christian  revelation,  but  not  in  the  divinity  of  Christ;  therefore  he  could  not 
commune  m  the  Episcopal  Church.  But  during  the  last  months  of  Ms  life  he  read 
Keith  on  Prophecy,  where  our  Saviour's  divinity  is  Incidentally  treated,  and  was 


^24  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AN3> 

Barnes  took  his  place  both  in  Leeds  and  Hamilton,  and  that  after 
Mr.  Lemmon's  death  the  Kev.  Mr.  Slaughter  officiated  in  Leeds 
parish  in  conjunction  with  Upperville  and  Middleburg.  At  Mr. 
Slaughter's  resignation  of  the  charge,  the  Rev.  "Wm.  H.  Pendleton 
became  the  minister,  and  so  continued  until  the  year  1854.  The 
present  minister  is  the  Rev.  Mr.  Callaway.  The  parish  has  recently 
been  subdivided.  There  are  two  new  churches  under  the  care  of 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Shields,  in  the  part  recently  cut  off,  and  one  in  the 
other  under  the  care  of  Mr.  Callaway.  An  excellent  parsonage  is 
now  being  built. 

convinced  by  Ms  work,  and  the  fuller  investigation  to  which  it  led,  of  the  supreme 
divinity  of  the  Saviour.  He  determined  to  apply  for  admission  to  the  Communion 
of  our  Church, — objected  to  commune  in  private,  because  he  thought  it  his  duty  to 
make  a  public  confession  of  the  Saviour, — and,  while  waiting  for  improved  health  to 
enable  him  to  go  to  the  church  for  that  purpose,  he  grew  worse  and  died,  without 
ever  communing.  Mrs.  Harvey  was  a  lady  of  the  strictest  probity,  the  most  humble 
piety,  and  of  a  clear  discriminating  mind,  and  her  statement,  the  substance  of  which 
I  give  you  accurately,  (having  reduced  it  to  writing,)  may  be  entirely  relied  on. 

"  I  remember  to  have  heard  Bishop  Moore  repeatedly  express  his  surprise  (when 
speaking  of  Judge  Marshall)  that,  though  he  was  so  punctual  in  his  attendance  at 

church,  and  reproved  Mr. »  and  Mr. ,  and  Mr. ,  when  they  were  absent, 

and  knelt  during  the  prayers  and  responded  fervently,  yet  he  never  communed.  The 
reason  was  that  which  he  gave  to  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Harvey.  She  said  he  died  an 
humble,  penitent  believer  in  Christ,  according  to  the  orthodox  creed  of  the  Church. 

"Very  truly,  your  friend  and  brother  in  Christ,  WM.  NOBWOOD. 

"F.S. — Another  fact,  illustrating  the  lasting  influence  of  maternal  instruction, 
was  mentioned  by  Mrs.  Harvey.  Her  father  told  her  that  he  never  went  to  bed 
without  concluding  his  prayer  with  those  which  his  mother  taught  him  when  a 
child, — viz. :  the  Lord's  Prayer  and  the  prayer  beginning,  lNow  I  lay  me  down  to 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  226 


ARTICLE  LXVII. 
Truro  Parish,  Fairfax  County. 

FAIRFAX  county  was  separated  from  Prince  William  in  tlte  year 
1742,  and  at  first  embraced  London  county.  The  whole  of  this 
was  covered  with  Truro  parish.*  In  1749,  Cameron  parish  was 
cut  off  from  it,  and  was  afterward  in  London,  when  that  county 
was  separated  from  Fairfax  in  1757.  The  parish  of  Truro  was 
again  divided  in  the  year  1764.  In  the  years  1754,  1758,  and 
1764,  I  have  evidence  that  the  Rev.  Chas.  Green  was  the  minister 
of  Truro  parish,  and  probably  lived  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Gun- 
ston,  the  seat  of  the  Mason  family,  near  which  stood  the  old  church 
which  was  superseded  by  Pohick  or  Mount  Vernon  Church.  Mr. 
George  Mason  makes  mention  of  him  in  a  letter  dated  1764.  I 
think  it  probable  General  Washington  also  mentions  the  same  person 
as  visiting  Mount  Vernon  in  1760,  when  Mrs.  Washington  was  sick. 
How  long  he  may  have  been  the  minister  after  1764,  I  cannot 
ascertain.  He  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Lee  Massey,  either  in 
or  before  the  year  1767,  as  that  is  the  date  of  one  of  his  sermons 
preached  at  the  Old  Pohick  Church.  He  was  also  in  the  parish  as 
minister  in  the  year  1785,  as  I  find  from  the  date  of  a  sermon 
preached  at  the  present  Pohick  Church,  which  was  built  during  his 
ministry,  of  which  I  possess  the  proof.  How  long  he  ministered  after 
this,  I  am  unable  to  say.  Mr.  Massey  was  a  lawyer  previous  to  his 
engaging  in  the  ministry,  and  was  ordained  by  the  Bishop  of  London 


*  A  curious  circumstance  in  relation  to  the  first  movements  of  this  parish  is 
recorded  in  the  fifth  volume  of  Henning,  pp.  274r-275.  The  Act  of  Assembly  is  as 
follows : — "  Whereas,  it  is  represented  to  this  Assembly,  that  divers  of  the  inha- 
bitants of  the  parish  of  Truro,  in  the  county  of  Fairfax,  do  now  and  for  several  years 
past  have  acted  as  vestrymen  of  the  said  parish,  although  many  of  them  were  never 
lawfully  chosen  or  qualified ;  that  several  pretending  to  act  as  vestrymen  are  not 
able  to  read  or  write,  and,  under  a  colour  of  being  lawfully  chosen,  have  taken 
upon  themselves  to  hold  vestries,  and  imposed  many  hardships  on  the  inhabitants 
of  the  said  parish :  for  remedy  thereof  be  it  enacted,"  &c.  The  Act  proceeds  to 
order  a  new  election,  though  ratifying  the  levies  of  the  pretended  vestry.  As  Lau- 
rence Washington,  the  elder  brother  of  the  General,  William  Fairfax,  Creorge  Mason, 
and  his  father,  of  Gunston,  and  others  of  character  and  education,  were  then  in  the 
parish,  and  soon  after  were  vestrymen,  we  presume  that  the  condemned  act  was  done 
in  some  other  part  of  the  county. 
IL— 15 


226  OLD   CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,  AKD 

for  Virginia  in  1766.  His  sermons  evince  talent  and  are  sound  in 
doctrine,  but,  like  most  of  that  day,  want  evangelical  life  and 
spirit,  and  would  never  rouse  lost  sinners  to  a  sense  of  their  con- 
dition. He  was  a  man  of  great  wit  and  humour,  the  indulgence 
of  which  was  the  fault  of  many  of  the  clergy  of  that  day.  The 
following  account  of  a  dispute  between  himself  and  his  vestry 
has  been  sent  me,  and  illustrates  his  character.  The  clerk  whom 
Mr.  Massey  had  selected  was  unacceptable  to  the  vestry,  and  in  order 
to  get  rid  of  him  they  give  him  no  salary  or  a  very  small  one.  Mr, 
Massey  complaining,  the  vestry  met  and  passed  two  resolutions : — 
1st.  That  the  minister  had  a  right  to  choose  his  clerk ;  2d,  That 
the  vestry  had  a  right  to  fix  his  salary.  In  a  letter  to  the  vestry 
Mr.  Massey  descanted  on  these  resolutions  with  severity,  and  thus 
concluded: — u  And  now,  gentlemen,  as  to  the  knowing  ones  among 
you, — and  I  admit  there  are  such, — I  would  say,  *  humanum  est 
errare;'  and,  as  to  the  rest  of  you,  'ne  sutor  ultra  erepidamJ  " 
Mr.  Massey  was  a  native  of  King  George.  His  mother  was  an 
Alexander.  He  lived  to  his  eighty-sixth  year,  and  died  in  1814. 
He  had,  however,  ceased  from  the  ministry  for  many  years  before  his 
death.  The  old  families  had  left  the  neighbourhood  or  the  Church. 
General  Washington,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  had  fully  connected 
himself  with  Christ  Church,  Alexandria,  and  Pohick  was  deserted 
or  only  attended  occasionally  by  some  ministers  of  whom  I  shall 
presently  speak.  Before  taking  leave  of  Mr.  Massey,  I  will  adduce 
the  proof  that  was  mentioned  that  Mount  Vernon  or  Pohick  Church 
was  built  during  his  ministry,  and  not  at  the  much  earlier  date  as 
supposed  by  some.  A  friend  has  furnished  me  the  following  state- 
ment : — 

"  The  date  of  its  erection  is  inscribed  on  and  near  the  head  of  one  of  tne 
columns  forming  part  of  the  ornamental  work  of  the  chancel,  in  the  fol- 
lowing manner : — i  1773.  W.  B.;  sculptor.'  " 

The  date  is  also  further  established  by  a  deed  recorded  in  the 
county  court,  of  which  I  have  a  copy.  It  is  a  deed  from  the  vestry 
of  a  pew  in  the  church  to  Mr.  Massey  and  his  successors. 

"  A  deed  from  the  vestry  of  Truro  parish,  in  the  county  of  Fairfax,  to 
wit: — George  Washington,  Geo.  Mason,  Daniel  McCarty,  Alexander  Hen- 
derson,  Thomas  Ellzey,  Thomas  Withers  Coffer,  Peter  Waggener,  Thomas 
Ford,  Martin  Cockburn,  William  Triplett;  William  Payne,  Jr.,  John  Barry, 
John  Ghirmell,  and  Thomas  Triplett,  to  Lee  Massey,  dated  25th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1774,  recite  that,  whereas,  in  the  new  church  lately  built  near 
Pohick,  the  vestry  have  set  apart  one  of  the  pews, — viz.:  the  one  next 


FAMILIES    OP  VIRGINIA.  227 

the  pulpit,  on  the  east  side  thereof,  and  adjoining  the  north  front  wall  of 
the  church,  for  the  use  of  the  said  Lee  Massey,  (now  rector,)  of  the  said 
parish,  and  his  successors. 

"Teste,  ALFRED  Moss/7 

We  have  in  this  document  not  only  a  witness  to  the  age  of  the 
present  Pohick  Church,  but  a  list  of  the  vestrymen  of  that  day.  We 
have  seen  a  printed  list  of  the  vestry  of  Truro  and  Fairfax  parishes 
in  the  year  1765, — -just  after  the  division, — in  which  are  some 
other  names  belonging  to  the  neighbourhood  of  Pohick, — as  George 
Wm.  Fairfax,  Edward  Blackburn,  William  Lynton,  William  Gar- 
diner, &c.  It  comes  from  a  leaf,  it  is  said,  of  the  old  Pohick  vestry- 
book,  which  has  by  some  means  gotten  into  the  Historical  Society 
of  New  York.  Of  the  vestry-book  itself  I  can  hear  no  tidings. 
In  the  year  1785,  I  find  the  name  of  George  Washington,  in  his 
own  handwriting, — not  as  a  vestryman,  but  as'  a  pew-bolder  and 
subscriber, — in  the  vestry-book  of  Christ  Church,  Alexandria.  After 
this  he  seldom,  if  ever,  attended  at  Pohick. 

It  will  be  expected  tbat  I  should  say  something  concerning  the 
tradition  as  to  the  part  which  Washington  took  in  the  location  of 
Pohick  Church.  The  following  account  is  probably  the  correct  one. 
The  Old  Pohick  Church  was  a  frame  building,  and  occupied  a  site 
on  the  south  side  of  Pohick  Run,  and  about  two  miles  from  the 
present,  which  is  on  the  north  side  of  the  run.  When  it  was  no 
longer  fit  for  use,  it  is  said  the  parishioners  were  called  together 
to  determine  on  the  locality  of  the  new  church,  when  George 
Mason,  the  compatriot  of  Washington,  and  senior  vestryman, 
advo-cated  the  old  site,  pleading  that  it  was  the  house  in  which  their 
fathers  worshipped,  and  that  the  graves  of  many  were  around  it, 
while  Washington  and  others  advocated  a  more  central  and  con- 
venient one.  The  question  was  left  unsettled  and  another  meeting 
for  its  decision  appointed.  Meanwhile  Washington  surveyed  the 
neighbourhood,  and  marked  the  houses  and  distances  on  a  well- 
drawn  map,  and,  when  the  day  of  decision  arrived,  met  all  the 
arguments  of  his  opponent  by  presenting  this  paper,  and  thus 
carried  his  point.  In  place  of  any  description  of  this  house  in  its 
past  or  present  condition,  I  offer  the  following  report  of  u  visit  made 
to  it  in  1887  :— 

"  My  next  visit  was  to  Pohick  Church,  in  the  vicinity  of  Mount  Vemon, 
the  seat  of  General  Washington.  I  designed  to  perform  service  there  on 
Saturday  as  well  as  Sunday,  but  through  some  mistake  no  notice  was  given 
for  the  former  day.  The  weather  indeed  was  such  as  to  prevent  the  as- 
sembling* of  any  but  those  who  prize  such  occasions  so  much  as  to  he  deterred 


228  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTEKS,  A3STD 

only  by  very  strong  considerations.  It  was  still  raining  when  I  a}  proached 
the  house,  and  found  no  one  there.  The  wide-open  doors  invited  me  to 
enter, — as  they  do  invite,  day  and  night,  through  the  year,  not  only  the 
passing  traveller,  but  every  beast  of  the  field  and  fowl  of  the  air.  These 
latter,  however,  seem  to  have  reverenced  the  house  of  God,  since  few 
marks  of  their  pollution  are  to  be  seen  throughout  it.  The  interior  of  the 
house,  having  been  well  built,  is  still  good.  The  chancel,  Communion- 
table, and  tables  of  the  law,  &c.  are  still  there  and  in  good  order.  The  roof 
only  is  decaying ;  and  at  the  time  I  was  there  the  rain  was  dropping  on  these 
sacred  places  and  on  other  parts  of  the  house.  On  the  doors  of  the  pews, 
in  gilt  letters,  are  still  to  be  seen  the  names  of  the  principal  families  which 
once  occupied  them.  How  could  I,  while  for  at  least  an  hour  traversing 
those  long  aisles,  entering  the  sacred  chancel,  ascending  the  lofty  pulpit, 
forbear  to  ask,  And  is  this  the  hoase  of  God  which  was  built  by  the  Wash- 
ingtons,  the  Masons,  the  McCartys,  the  Grahams,  the  Lewises,  the  Fair- 
faxes ? — the  house  in  which  they  used  to  worship  the  God  of  our  fathers 
according  to  the  venerable  forms  of  the  Episcopal  Church, — and  some  of 
whose  names  are  yet  to  be  seen  on  the  doors  of  those  now  deserted  pews  ? 
Is  this  also  destined  to  moulder  piecemeal  away,  or,  when  some  signal  is 
given,  to  become  the  prey  of  spoilers,  and  to  be  carried  hither  and  thither 
and  applied  to  every  purpose  under  heaven  ? 

"  Surely  patriotism,  or  reverence  for  the  greatest  of  patriots,  if  not  re- 
ligion, might  be  effectually  appealed  to  in  behalf  of  this  one  temple  of 
God.  The  particular  location  of  it  is  to  be  ascribed  to  Washington,  who, 
being  an  active  member  of  the  vestry  when  it  was  under  consideration  and 
in  dispute  where  it  should  be  placed,  carefully  surveyed  the  whole  parish, 
and,  drawing  an  accurate  and  handsome  map  of  it  with  his  own  hand, 
showed  clearly  where  the  claims  of  justice  and  the  interests  of  religion 
required  its  erection/' 

"It  was  to  this  church  that  Washington  for  some  years  regularly 
repaired,  at  a  distance  of  six  or  seven  miles,  never  permitting  any 
company  to  prevent  the  regular  observance  of  the  Lord's  day. 
And  shall  it  now  be  permitted  to  sink  into  ruin  for  want  of  a  few 
hundred  dollars  to  arrest  the  decay  already  begun  ?  The  families 
which  once  worshipped  there  are  indeed  nearly  all  gone,  and  those 
who  remain  are  not  competent  to  its  complete  repair.  But  there 
are  immortal  beings  around  it,  and  not  far  distant  from  it,  who 
might  be  forever  blessed  by  the  word  faithfully  preached  therein. 

"The  poor  shall  never  fail  out  of  any  land,  and  to  them  the  Gos- 
pel ought  to  be  preached. 

"For  some  years  past  one  of  the  students  in  our  Theological  Semi- 
nary has  acted  as  lay  reader  in  it,  and  occasionally  a  professor 
has  added  his  services.  Within  the  last  year  the  Rev.  Mr.  Johnson, 
residing  in  the  neighbourhood,  has  performed  more  frequent  duties 
there. 

"On  the  day  following  the  one  which  has  given  rise  to  the  above, 
I  preached  to  a  very  considerable  congregation  in  this  old  church, 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  229 

jne-third  of  which  was  made  up  of  coloured  persons.  The  sacra- 
ment was  then  administered  to  twenty  persons.  If  I  should  ever 
be  permitted  to  visit  this  house  again,  it  must  be  under  circum- 
stances far  more  cheering,  or  far  more  gloomy,  than  those  which 
attended  my  recent  visit." 

I  am  happy  to  say  that  this  report  led  the  Rev.  Mr.  Johnson  to 
its  use,  in  a  circular,  by  means  of  which  he  raised  fifteen  hundred 
dollars,  with  which  a  new  roof  and  ceiling  and  other  repairs  were 
put  on  it,  by  which  it  has  been  preserved  from  decay  and  fitted  for 
such  occasional  services  as  are  performed  there.  A  friend,  who 
has  recently  visited  it,  informs  me  that  many  of  the  doors  of  the 
pews  are  gone.  Those  of  George  Washington  and  George  Mason 
are  not  to  be  found, — perhaps  borne  away  as  relics.  Those  of 
George  William  Fairfax,  Martin  Oockburn,  Daniel  McCarty, 
William  Payne,  and  the  rector's,  are  still  standing  and  their 
names  legible.  Of  Martin  Cockburn  and  Mrs.  Cockburn,  intimate 
friends  of  George  Mason,  we  have  heard  a  high  character  for  piety 
and  benevolence.  Mr.  Oockburn  was  from  the  West  Indies,  and 
Mrs.  Cockburn  was  a  Miss  Bronaugh,  a  relative  of  the  Masons,  of 
Guns  ton.  They  left  no  children  to  inherit  and  perpetuate  their 
virtues  and  graces.  The  family  of  Mason  has  long  adhered  to  Old 
Gunston,  near  which  was  the  Old  Pohick.  The  following  account, 
from  one  of  the  family,  will  be  interesting  to  its  members  and 
friends.  The  first  of  the  family  who  came  to  Virginia  was  Colonel 
George  Mason,  who  was  a  member  of  the  British  Parliament  in  the 
reign  of  Charles  the  First.  In  Parliament  he  opposed  with  great 
eloquence  the  arbitrary  measures  of  the  King,  but  when  the  civil 
war  commenced  he  drew  his  sword  on  the  side  of  the  King  and  was 
an  officer  in  Charles  the  Second's  army,  and  commanded  a  regi- 
ment of  horse.  When  the  King's  army  was  defeated  at  Worcester 
by  Oliver  Cromwell  in  1651,  he  disguised  himself,  and  was  con- 
cealed by  some  peasants  until  he  got  an  opportunity  to  embark  for 
America.  He  had  considerable  possessions  in  Staffordshire,  (though 
the  family  was  of  old  a  Warwickshire  one,)  where  he  was  born  and 
generally  lived;  all  of  which  were  lost.  A  younger  brother  em- 
barked with  him,  and  they  arrived  and  landed  in  Norfolk,  Virginia. 
The  younger  brother,  William,  married  t*nd  died  at  or  near  Norfolk. 
He  left  a  son,  who  went  to  Boston  and  settled.  His  female  de- 
scendants married  among  the  Thoroughgoods,  and  that  family  was 
for  a  long  time  in  Princess  Anne, — perhaps  may  be  now.  Colonel 
George  Mason  went  up  the  Potomac  and  settled  at  Accotink,  near 
Pasbytanzy,  where  be  died  and  was  buried.  He  called  the  county 


280  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTEBS,   AND 

Stafford,  after  his  native  county  in  England,  Such  at  least  is  the 
probable  conjecture.  This  is  the  George  Mason  who,  in  another 
place,  we  have  spoken  of  as  being,  with  his  wife  and  Colonel  Brent, 
sponsor  in  baptism  for  a  young  Indian  chief  whom  they  took  pri- 
soner in  Maryland.  Our  notice  was  taken  from  one  of  the  early 
Tracts,  republished  by  Peter  Force,  and  which  is  ascribed  to  Mr. 
Mason  himself.  The  Mason  family  intermarried  with  the  Brents, 
Fitzhughs,  and  Thompsons  at  an  early  period,  and  afterward  with 
the  McCartys,  Bronaughs,  Grahams,  and  many  others. 

Of  one  branch  of  this  family,  in  connection  with  another  old 
family  of  Virginia,  I  have  something  to  say.  There  was  at  Hamp- 
ton, in  Elizabeth  City  county,  an  old  Episcopal  family  by  the  name 
of  Westwood.  A  daughter  of  one  member  of  it,  Elizabeth  West- 
wood,  married  a  Mr.  Wallace.  At  his  death  she  married  John 
Thompson  Mason,  who  settled  at  Chappawamsic,  in  Stafford  county. 
She  was  the  mother  of  Mr.  Temple  Mason,  of  Loudoun,  and  other 
children,  among  whom  was  a  daughter  named  Euphan,  who  mar- 
ried Mr.  Bailey  Washington,  of  Stafford.  At  the  death  of  her 
husband,  Mr.  Washington,  she  married  Mr.  Brent,  and  lived  and 
died  at  Park  Gate,  in  Prince  William  county.  She  had  many  chil- 
dren. Among  them  was  a  daughter,  who  married  first  Mr.  McCrae, 
then  Mr.  Storke,  of  Fredericksburg.  Her  daughter  Euphan  mar- 
ried Mr.  Roy,  of  Matthews.  This  is  mentioned  as  introductory  to 
some  extracts  from  a  few  letters  of  old  Mrs.  Mason  to  her  son, 
Temple  Mason,  of  Leesburg,  showing  the  earnest  desire  she  had 
for  the  religious  welfare  of  her  children.  From  a  letter  of  her 
grand-daughter,  Mrs.  Storke,  I  learn  that  she  was  living  at  the  time 
of  her  death  at  Dumfries,  in  Prince  William  county.  She  was  one 
of  those  old-fashioned  Virginia  ladies  who,  like  Mrs.  General 
Washington  and  Solomon's  model  of  a  lady,  not  only  superintended 
the  labours  of  her  servants,  but  worked  with  her  own  hands.  This 
she  did  until  within  a  few  days  of  her  death.  But  her  soul  was 
much  more  actively  engaged  with  God.  While  it  was  possible,  she 
bent  her  knees  daily  before  God,  even  when  it  was  thought  im- 
proper to  attempt  it.  Among  her  last  words  were  the  following  :-— 
"Certainly,  certainly,  I  can  see  no  other  way  than  that  of  Christ 
crucified/'  "  Christ  is  my  all  in  all." 

Let  the  following  sentences,  from  a  letter  to  her  son  Temple  in 
1816,  sink  deep  into  the  hearts  of  all  her  descendants.  After 
exhorting  him  earnestly  to  attend  at  once  to  personal  religion,  by 
reading  the  Scriptures,  and  prayer,  and  attendance  on  public  wor* 
ship,  she  thus  concludes : — 


FAMILIES   OJ?  VIRGINIA.  231 

"Have  no  work  done  on  the  Sabbath  more  than  is  necessary  to  be  done 
Have  your  victuals  cooked  on  Saturday.  Give  your  poor  slaves  who  work 
in  the  field,  Saturday  to  sell  what  they  make,  that  they  may  have  it  in 
their  power  to  go  to  worship  on  Sunday.  Attend  to  your  dear  children. 
Bring  them  up  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord.  He  requires  it  of  you  to  teach 
them  their  prayers.  Set  them  an  example,  by  having  family  worship  foi 
them  and  your  servants.  Pray  for  faith :  it  is  the  gift  of  6-od.  He  will 
hear  our  prayers,  if  we  ask  in  faith.  Oh  that  the  Lord  Almighty  and 
my  blessed  Saviour  may  awaken  you  and  open  the  eyes  of  your  under- 
standing, while  you  are  reading  these  lines,  and  bring  you  to  consider 
what  will  make  for  your  everlasting  salvation.  Oh,  if  you  did  but  know 
what  your  aged  mother  feels  for  you  and  the  rest  of  her  children  and 
grandchildren,  how  much  she  implores  the  mercy  of  God  with  daily  fer- 
vent prayer,  that  he  would  of  his  great  love  and  pity  convert  you  all/'  &c. 

In  two  other  letters,  one  of  them  dated  in  1818,  she  writes  in 
the  same  earnest  strain.  One  of  them  to  her  son  Temple,  whom 
she  addresses,  "My  dear  child/'  thus  concludes: — "0  my  blessed 
God,  of  thy  great  mercy,  grant,  while  you  are  reading  these  lines, 
that  you  may  consider  and  turn  and  seek  him  and  find  him.  Oh, 
what  a  joy  it  would  give  your  aged  mother  to  hear  or  see  that  you 
were  converted !"  « 

That  the  prayers  of  this  aged  woman  were  heard  in  behalf  of 
one  of  her  grandchildren,  all  who  knew  Mrs.  Henry  Magill,  of 
Leesburg,  will  be  ready  to  believe. 

Among  the  families  which  belonged  to  Pohick  Church  was  that 
of  Mr.  Lawrence  Lewis,  the  nephew  of  General  Washington,  the 
son  of  his  sister  Betty,  who  married  Mr.  Lewis.  Mr.  Lawrence 
Lewis  married  Miss  Custis,  the  grand-daughter  of  Mrs.  Washington. 
In  many  of  the  pictures  of  the  Washington  family  she  may  be 
seen,  as  a  girl,  in  a  groupe  with  the  General,  Mrs.  Washington, 
and  her  brother  Washington  Parke  Oustis.  There  were  two  other 
full-sisters,  who  married  Mr.  Law  and  Mr.  Peter.  Mrs.  Oustis,  the 
widow  of  Mr.  Washington's  son,  married  again.  Her  second  hus- 
band was  Dr.  David  Steuart,  first  of  Hope  Park,  and  then  of  Ossian 
Hall,  Fairfax  county.  He  was  the  son  and  grandson  of  the  two 
Mr.  Steuarts  who  were  ministers  in  King  George  for  so  long  a 
period.  They  had  a  numerous  offspring.  The  residence  of  Mr 
Lawrence  Lewis  was  a  few  miles  only  from  Mount  Yernon,  and  was 
called  Woodlawn.  After  the  desertion  of  Pohick  they  also  attended 
in  Alexandria,  and  some  time  after  the  establishment  of  St.  Paul's 
congregation,  and  the  settlement  of  Dr.  Wilmer  in  it,  they  united 
themselves  to  it,  and  were  much  esteemed  by  Dr.  Wilmer,  as  he  was 
by  them.  After  some  years  they  removed  to  an  estate  near  Berry- 
ville,  in  what  was  then  Frederick,  now  Clarke  county.  Mr.  Lewis 


282  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

was  one  of  the  most  amiable  of  men  by  nature,  and  became  a  sin 
cere  Christian,  and  a  communicant  of  our  Church.  His  person 
was  tall  and  commanding,  and  his  face  full  of  benignity,  as  was 
his  whole  character.  I  wish  some  of  our  friends  at  a  distance 
could  have  seen  him  in  the  position  I  once  beheld  him  in  the  church 
at  Berryville,  when  I  was  administering  the  Holy  Communion. 
Some  of  his  servants  were  members  of  the  church  in  that  place, 
and  on  that  day  one  of  them  came  up  after  the  white  members  had 
communed.  It  so  happened  that  Mr.  Lewis  himself  had  not  com- 
muned, but  came  up  and  knelt  by  the  side  of  his  servant,  feeling  no 
doubt  that  one  God  made  them  and  one  Saviour  redeemed  them. 
Mrs.  Lewis  was  also  a  zealous  member  of  the  Church,  a  lady  of 
fine  mind  and  education,  and  very  popular  in  her  manners.  Like 
her  grandmother,  she  knew  the  use  of  her  hands,  and  few  ladies  in 
the  land  did  more  with  them  for  all  Church  and  charitable  purposes, 
even  to  the  last  days  of  a  long  life.  They  had  three  children. 
Their  son,  Lorenzo,  married  a  Miss  Coxe,  of  Philadelphia,  and 
settled  on  the  estate  in  Clarke,  but  died  some  years  since.  The 
two  daughters  married,  the  one  Mr.  Conrad,  of  New  Orleans,  and 
f he  other  Mr.  Butler,  of  Mississippi  or  Louisiana.  A  numerous 
posterity  is  descending  from  them.* 


*  The  Lewis  family  of  Eastern  Virginia  is  of  Welsh  origin.  Their  ancestor, 
General  Robert  Lewis,  (whose  name  is  favourably  mentioned  in  English  history,) 
came  from  Wales  to  Gloucester  county,  Virginia,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  -there  lived  and  died.  His  son  Robert,  who  also  lived  and  died  in 
Gloucester,  had  three  sons, — Fielding,  John,  and  Charles.  Of  the  two  last  I  have 
received  no  account.  Mr.  Fielding  Lewis,  of  Wyanoke,  Charles  City  county,  was 
doubtless  a  descendant  of  one  of  them.  Colonel  Fielding  Lewis,  son  of  the  second 
Robert,  removed  to  Fredericksburg  early  in  life,  was  a  merchant  of  high  standing 
and  wealth,  a  vestryman,  magistrate,  and  burgess,  and  during  the  Revolution, 
being  a  genuine  patriot,  superintended  the  manufacture  of  arms  in  the  neighbour- 
hood. He  was  twice  married.  His  first  wife  was  the  cousin  and  his  second  the 
sister  of  General  Washington.  One  child  only,  out  of  three  by  his  first  wife,  lived 
to  any  considerable  age.  His  name  was  John.  He  moved  to  Kentucky,  and  left  a 
posterity  there.  The  children  of  Colonel  Lewis  by  Ms  second  wife,  Betty  Wash- 
ington, were  six, — Fielding,  George,  Elizabeth,  Lawrence,  Robert,  and  Howell. 
Fielding  died  in  Fairfax  county,  leaving  descendants.  Elizabeth  married  Mr. 
Charles  Carter,  and  was  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  exemplary  of  Christians. 
George  was  captain  in  Baylor's  regiment,  and  commander  of  General  Washington's 
life-guard.  In  his  arms  General  Mercer  expired  on  the  field  of  battle  at  Princeton. 
Toward  the  close  of  the  war  he  married  and  settled  near  Berryville  in  Old  Frede- 
rick, and  took  an  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  Church  in  that  parish.  After  some 
years  he  removed  to  Fredericksburg,  and  from  thence  to  King  George,  dying  at  his 
seat,  Marmion,  in  1821.  He  enjoyed  the  highest  confidence  of  General  Washington, 
being  sent  by  him  on  a  secret  expedition  of  g*eat  importance  to  Canada.  Mr 


FAMILIES   OF   VIKGINIA.  233 

.There  were  other  families  who  belonged  to  this  parish  and  church, 
but  I  am  not  possessed  of  information  to  enable  me  to  speak  of 
them  as  I  could  wish.  The  Chichesters,  the  Footes  and  Tripletts, 
were,  I  am  told,  the  last  to  leave  it.  The  following  letter  from  my 
friend,  General  Henderson,  of  Washington,  gives  some  notice  of 
his  father,  Alexander  Henderson,  who  was  one  of  the  vestry  of 
Pohick  Church  who  signed  the  deed  of  a  pew  to  Rev.  Mr.  Massey:-— 

"  WASHINGTON,  5th  of  February,  1857. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  : — I  received  yours  this  morning.  My  father,  Alex- 
ander Henderson,  came  to  this  country  from  Scotland  in  the  year  1756, 
and  settled  first  as  a  merchant  in  Colchester.  During  the  Revolutionary 
War  he  retired  to  a  farm  in  Fairfax  county  to  avoid  the  possibility  of  fall- 
ing into  the  hands  of  the  English,  as  he  had  taken  a  decided  part  on  the 
side  of  freedom  against  the  mother-country.  About  1787  or  1788  he  re- 
moved to  Dumfries.  He  died  in  the  latter  part  of  1815,  leaving  six  sons 
and  four  daughters,  all  grown.  John,  Alexander,  and  James  emigrated  to 
Western  Yirginia,  and  settled  as  farmers  in  Wood  county.  Richard  and 
Thomas  were  known  to  you,  the  former  living  in  Leesburg  and  the  latter 
for  the  last  twenty  years  being  in  the  medical  department  of  the  army. 
James  and  myself  are  the  only  surviving  sons.  Two  of  my  sisters — Mrs. 
Anne  Henderson  and  Mrs.  Margaret  Wallace — are  still  alive.  My  sisters 
Jane  and  Mary  died  many  years  ago.  The  latter  married  Mr.  Inman  Her- 
ri er,  of  Warrenton.  All  the  members  of  the  family  have  been,  with  scarce 
an  exception,  steady  Episcopalians.'7 

Of  Mr.  Richard  Henderson,  of  Leesburg,  Dr.  Thomas  Hender- 
son, and  the  sisters,  I  need  not  speak  to  the  inhabitants  of  Lees- 
burg  and  Warrenton.  where  they  were  so  well  known  as  the  props 
of  our  Church.  The  author  of  the  letter  from  which  I  have  ex- 
tracted has  long  been  a  communicant  and  active  vestryman  of  the 
Church  in  Washington. 

I  have  said  that  after  the  Revolution,  when  General  Washington 
changed  his  attendance  from  Pohick  to  Alexandria,  and  others  left 
the  parish,  regular  services  ceased  in  that  part  of  the  county.  Mr. 
Massey  either  relinquished  services  because  none  attended,  or  from 
some  other  cause,  although  he  lived  many  years  after.  The  Rev. 

Lawrence  Lewis,  of  whom  we  have  spoken  above,  was  aid  to  General  Morgan,  in 
his  expedition  to  the  West  to  quell  the  insurrection  in  Pennsylvania.  Mr.  Robert 
Lewis,  the  fourth  son  of  Colonel  Fielding  Lewis,  was  the  private  secretary  of  Gene- 
ral Washington  during  a  part  of  his  Presidential  term.  In  the  year  179j.,  he  took 
up  his  residence  in  Fredericksburg,  where  as  private  citizen,  as  mayor  of  the  town, 
and  as  a  communicant  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  he  was  universally  esteemed  and 
beloved.  His  daughter  Judith  married  the  Bev.  E.  C.  McGuire,  who  has  so  long 
been  the  minister  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  Fredericksburg.  Mr.  Howell,  the 
fifth  and  last  son  of  Colonel  Fielding  Lewis,  moved  to  Kanawha  county,  where 
some  of  his  posterity  still  reside. 


234  OLD   CHURCHES,   MIMSTERS,   AND 

Mr.  We  ems,  in  his  books,  announces  himself  as  the  rector  of  this 
parish  after  this  period.  If  some  may,  by  comparison,  be  called 
"nature's  noblemen,"  he  might  surely  have  been  pronounced  one 
of  "  nature's  oddities."  Whether  in  private  or  public,  in  prayers 
or  preaching,  it  was  impossible  that  either  the  young  or  old,  the 
grave  or  the  gay,  could  keep  their  risible  faculties  from  violent 
agitation.  To  suppose' him  to  have  been  a  kind  of  private  chaplain 
to  such  a  man  as  Washington,  as  has  been  the  impression  of  some, 
is  the  greatest  of  incongruities.  But  I  wish  to  do  him  ample  justice. 
Although  his  name  never  appears  on  the  journals  of  any  of  our 
Conventions,  and  cannot  be  found  on  the  lists  of  those  ordained  for 
Virginia  or  Maryland  by  the  Bishop  of  London,  so  that  a  doubt 
has  been  entertained  whether  he  ever  was  ordained  a  minister  of 
our  Church,  yet  I  have  ascertained  that  to  be  a  fact.  We  pre- 
sume that  he  was  from  Maryland,  as  there  are  or  were  persons  of 
that  name  there,  who  were  said  to  be  his  relatives.  We  will  give 
him  credit  for  much  benevolence,  much  of  what  Sterne  called  the 
milk  of  human  kindness,  and  of  which  Mr.  Weems  delighted 
to  speak  in  his  sermons  and  writings.  In  proof  of  our  disposition 
to  do  him  ample  justice,  we  present  the  following  account  of  his 
boyhood  in  Maryland,  which  has  been  given  us  by  one  who  knew 
him: — 

"  In  his  youth  Mr.  Weems  was  an  inmate  of  the  family  of  Mr.  Jenifer, 
of  Charles  county,  Maryland.  They  confided  in  him  as  a  boy  of  principle, 
and  had  no  doubt  as  to  his  uprightness  and  morality  until  about  his  four- 
teenth year.  When  at  that  age  he  was  seen  to  leave  the  house  every  even- 
ing after  tea  and  to  be  often  away  until  late  at  night.  The  family  began 
to  be  afraid  that  he  was  getting  into  corrupt  habits,  and,  notwithstanding 
his  assurance  that  he  would  do  nothing  that  would  render  him  unworthy  of 
their  esteem  and  friendship,  they  felt  uneasy.  He  scorned  the  idea  of 
abusing  their  confidence,  but,  as  he  persisted  in  the  practice  of  going 
away,  at  length  they  determined  to  find  out  what  was  the  cause  of  it. 
Accordingly  one  night  a  plan  was  laid  by  which  he  was  tracked.  After 
pursuing  his  trail  for  some  distance  into  the  pines,  they  came  to  an  old 
hut,  in  which  was  young  Weeins,  surrounded  by  the  bareheaded,  bare- 
footed, and  half-clad  children  of  the  neighbourhood,  whom  he  had  been  in 
the  habit  of  thus  gathering  around  him  at  night,  in  order  to  give  them 
instruction." 

I  acknowledge  that  he  was  in  the  habit  of  having  the  servant,  as- 
sembled in  private  houses,  where  he  would  spend  the  night,  and  would 
recite  a  portion  of  Scripture,  for  he  never  read  it  out  of  the  book, 
and  perhaps  say  something  to  them,  or  in  the  prayer  about  them, 
but  then  it  was  in  such  a  way  as  only  to  produce  merriment.  This 
I  have  experienced  in  my  own  family  a#d  at  my  mother's,  atxd  have 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  235 

heard  others*  testify  to  the  same,  I  do  not  think  he  could  have  long 
even  pretended  to  be  the  rector  of  any  parish.  From  my  earliest 
knowledge  of  him  he  was  a  travelling  bookseller  for  Mr.  Matthew 
Carey,  of  Philadelphia,  visiting  all  the  States  south  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  perhaps  some  north  of  it,  in  a  little  wagon,  with  his  fiddle  as  a 
constant  companion  to  amuse  himself  and  others.  If  he  would  pray 
with  the  servants  at  night  in  their  owners'  houses,  he  would  play 
the  fiddle  for  them  on  the  roadside  by  day,  One  instance  of  his 
good-nature  is  well  attested.  At  the  old  tavern  in  Caroline  county, 
Virginia,  called  the  White  Chimneys,  Mr.  Weems  and  some  stroll- 
ing players  or  puppet-showmen  met  together  one  night*  A  notice 
of  some  exhibition  had  been  given,  and  the  neighbours  had  assem- 
bled to  witness  it.  A  fiddle  was  necessary  to  the  full  performance, 
and  that  was  wanting.  Mr.  Weems  supplied  the  deficiency. 

He  was  of  a  very  enlarged  charity  in  all  respects.  Though  calling 
himself  an  Episcopal  minister,  he  knew  no  distinction  of  Churches. 
He  preached  in  every  pulpit  to  which  he  could  gain  access,  and 
where  he  could  recommend  his  books.  His  books  were  of  all  kinds. 
Mr.  Carey,  his  employer,  was  a  Roman  Catholic,  but  dealt  in  all 
manner  of  books.  On  an  election  or  court-day  at  Fairfax  Court- 
House,  I  once,  in  passing  to  or  from  the  upper  country,  found  Mr. 
Weems,  with  a  bookcaseful  for  sale,  in  the  portico  of  the  tavern. 
On  looking  at  them  I  sawPaine's  "Age  of  Reason,'*  and,  taking  it 
into  my  hand,  turned  to  him,  and  asked  if  it  was  possible  that  he 
could  sell  such  a  book.  He  immediately  took  out  the  Bishop  of 
LlandafFs  answer,  and  said,  "  Behold  the  antidote.  The  bane  and 
antidote  are  both  before  you."  He  carried  this  spurious  charity 
into  his  sermons.  In  my  own  pulpit  at  the  old  chapel,  in  my  ab  • 
sence,  it  being  my  Sunday  in  Winchester,  he  extolled  Tom  Paine 
and  one  or  more  noted  infidels  in  America,  and  said  if  their  ghostrf 
could  return  to  the  earth  they  would  be  shocked  to  hear  the  false- 
hoods which  were  told  of  them.  I  was  present  the  following  day, 
when  my  mother  charged  him  with  what  she  had  heard  of  his  ser- 
mon, and  well  remember  that  even  he  was  confused  and  speechless. 
Some  of  Mr.  Weems's  pamphlets  on  drunkenness  and  gambling  would 
be  most  admirable  in  their  effects,  but  for  the  fact  that  you  know 
not  what  to  believe  of  the  narrative.  There  are  passages  of  deep 
pathos  and  great  eloquence  in  them.  His  histories  of  Washington 
and  Marion  are  very  popular,  but  the  same  must  be  said  of  them. 
You  know  not  how  much  of  fiction  there  is  in  them.  That  of  Wash- 
ington has  probably  gone  through  more  editions  than  all  others,  and 
has  Veen  read  by  more  persons  than  those  of  Marshall,  Ramsey, 


286  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

Bancroft,  and  Irving,  put  together.  To  conclude, — all  tlie  while 
that  Mr.  Weems  was  thus  travelling  over  the  land,  an  object  of 
amusement  to  so  many,  and  of  profit  to  Mr.  Carey,  he  was  trans- 
mitting support  to  his  interesting  and  pious  family,  at  or  near 
Dumfries,  who,  if  I  am  rightly  informed,  were  attached  to  the  Me- 
thodist Church.  If  in  this,  or  any  thing  else  which  I  have  written, 
any  mistake  has  been  made,  I  should  be  glad  to  receive  its  cor- 
rection. 

There  were  three  other  ministers  who  occasionally  preached  at 
Pohick,  and  visited  Mount  Vernon  after  the  death  of  General  and 
Mrs.  Washington,  of  whom  a  few  words  must  be  said.  But,  before 
these  few  are  said,  it  is  proper  to  speak  of  the  change  which  took 
place  at  Mount  Vernon  by  the  death  of  its  illustrious  owners.  It 
is  well  known  that  Judge  Bushrod  Washington,  the  son  of  General 
Washington's  brother  John,  inherited  Mount  Vernon.  He  was  in 
full  communion  with  the  Church  when  I  first  became  acquainted 
with  him  in  1812,  having  no  doubt  united  himself  with  it  in  Phila- 
delphia under  Bishop  White,  while  attending  the  Supreme  Court 
in  that  place.  I  know  that  he  was  intimate  with  Bishop  White 
and  highly  esteemed  him.  Judge  Washington  attended  one  or  more 
of  our  earliest  Conventions  in  Richmond  and  was  a  punctual  mem- 
ber of  the  Standing  Committee  from  that  time  until  his  death.  He 
married  into  the  family  of  Blackburns,  of  Eipon  Lodge,  not  many 
miles  from  Dumfries,  and  perhaps  twelve  from  Mount  Vernon.  The 
first  Richard  Blackburn  of  whom  our  vestry-books  speak  married  a 
daughter  of  the  Rev.  James  Scott,  of  Dumfries.  His  son  was,  I 
believe,  the  father  of  Mrs.  Bushrod  Washington,  Mrs.  Henry 
Turner,  of  Jefferson,  Mr.  Richard  and  Thomas  Blackburn.  The 
family  at  Ripon  Lodge  had  long  been  the  main  support  of  the 
church  at  Dumfries  and  Centreville,  and  their  house  the  resort  of 
the  clergy.  I  have  before  me  a  paper  drawn  up  in  1812  for  the 
support  of  the  Rev.  Charles  O'Neill.  The  first  and  highest  sub- 
scriber is  Mr.  Thomas  Blackburn,  who  was,  I  believe,  the  husband 
of  our  excellent  friend  Mrs.  Blackburn,  who  lived  near  Berryville 
for  many  of  the  last  years  of  her  life.  His  subscription  is  fifty 
dollars.  The  next  highest  is  that  of  a  Mr.  Edmund  Denny,  twenty- 
five  dollars.  The  next  Dr,  Humphrey  Peake,  for  twenty  dollars. 
All  the  rest  much  less.  Old  Mrs.  Blackburn,  with  her  four  grand- 
daughters,— Jane,  Polly,  Christian,  and  Judy  Blackburn, — daugh  • 
ters  of  Mr.  Richard  Blackburn,  were  much  at  Mount  Vernon.  I  Le 
came  acquainted  with  them  during  the  years  1812  and  1813,  while 
I  was  ministering  in  Alexandria.  They  were  the  first-fruits  of  my 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  237 

ministry  in  that  plaje,  and  very  dear  to  me.  Two  of  them — Jane 
and  Polly — married  nephews  of  Judge  Washington,  and  settled  in 
Jefferson.  One  of  them — Judy — married  Mr.  Ghistavus  Alexander, 
of  King  George,  and  the  fourth — Christian — died  unmarried.  By 
my  intimacy  with  these  four  most  estimable  ladies  and  with  Mrs. 
Blackburn  and  her  sister,  Mrs.  Taylor,  I  have  from  time  to  time 
become  acquainted  with  the  state  of  things  at  Ripon  Lodge  and 
Mount  Vernon  as  to  the  clergy.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Kemp  and  the  Eev. 
Mr.  Moscrope  occasionally  officiated  at  Dumfries  and  Pohick,  and 
perhaps  at  Centreville,  for  the  want  of  those  who  were  better.  But 
in  order  to  conceal  the  shame  of  the  clergy  from  the  younger  ones, 
and  to  prevent  their  loss  of  attachment  to  religion  and  the  Church, 
the  elder  ones  had  sometimes  to  hurry  them  away  to  bed  or  take 
them  away  from  the  presence  of  these  ministers  when  indulging  too 
freely  in  the  intoxicating  cup.  The  doctrine  of  total  abstinence  in 
families,  of  banishing  wine  and  spirits  from  the  cellar  and  the  table, 
was  not  thought  of  then  in  the  best  of  families.  If  the  minister 
chose  it,  he  must  drink.  The  third  and  last  minister,  and  who  died, 
I  think,  in  1813,  was  the  Rev.  Charles  0'ISTeill,  who  was  an  im- 
provement on  the  two  last.  The  families  at  Mount  Vernon  and 
Ripon  Lodge  were  fond  of  him.  He  always  spent  his  Christmas  at 
Mount  Vernon,  and  on  those  occasions  was  dressed  in  a  full  suit 
of  velvet,  which  General  Washington  had  left  behind,  and  which 
had  been  given  to  Mr.  O'Neill.  But  as  General  Washington  was 
tall  and  well  proportioned  in  all  his  parts,  and  Mr.  O'Neill  was 
peculiarly  formed,  being  of  uncommon  length  of  body  and  brevity 
of  legs,  it  was  difficult  to  make  the  clothes  of  the  one,  even  though 
altered,  sit  well  upon  the  other.* 


*  In  speaking  of  Mount  Vernon,  it  might  be  expected  that  I  should  say  something 
of  this  venerable  house  and  beautiful  place,  and  the  Washington  vault,  and  that  I 
should  have  an  appropriate  pictorial  representation  of  the  same;  but,  as  they  are  to 
be  read  of  and  their  similitudes  seen  in  so  many  books,  I  shall  refer  my  readers  to 
those  books.  There  was,  however,  one  object  of  interest  belonging  to  General 
Washington,  concerning  which  I  have  a  special  right  to  speak, — viz. :  his  old  English 
coach,  in  which  himself  and  Mrs.  Washington  not  only  rode  in  Fairfax  county,  but 
travelled  through  the  length  and  breadth  of  our  land.  So  faithfully  was  it  executed 
that,  at  the  conclusion  of  this  long  journey,  its  builder,  who  came  over  with  it  and 
settled  in  Alexandria,  was  proud  to  be  told  by  the  General  that  not  a  nail  or  screw 
had  failed.  It  so  happened,  in  a  way  I  need  not  state,  that  this  coach  came  into 
my  hands  about  fifteen  years  after  the  death  of  General  Washington.  In  the  course 
of  time,  from  disuse,  it  being  too  heavy  for  these  latter  days,  it  began  to  decay  and 
give  way.  Becoming  an  object  of  desire  to  those  who  delight  in  relics,  I  caused  it  to 
be  taken  to  pieces  and  distributed  among  the  admiring  friends  of  Washington  who 
visited  my  house,  and  also  among  a  number  of  female  associations  for  benevolent 


288  OLD    CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,  ANT) 

I  am  happy  to  be  able  to  add  to  this  article  the  following  extracts 
from  two  letters  of  my  old  college  friend.  Colonel  Stoddert,  of 
Wycomico  House,  Maryland,  concerning  his  grandfather,  the  Rev. 
Lee  Massey : — 

"  My  grandfather  I  remember  well.  He  died  in  1814,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-six,  a  rare  instance  of  physical  and  mental  vigour  for  so  advanced  an 
age.  He  was  the  friend  and  companion  of  Washington  from  early  youth, 
and  the  legal  adviser  and  friend  of  George  Mason.  He  commenced  life 
u  lawyer, — having  pursued  his  studies  in  the  office  of  George  Johnston, 
Esq.,  than  whom  an  abler  lawyer  was  not  to  be  found  in  the  Northern  Neck 
of  Virginia.  He  married  the  daughter  of  Mr.  Johnston,  and  began  his 
professional  career  with  every  prospect  of  success,  but  retired  when  a 
young  man,  because  his  '  conscience  would  not  suffer  him  to  make  the 
worse  appear  the  better  reason/  and  to  uphold  wrong  against  right.  He 
tried  to  follow  in  the  lead  of  Chancellor  Wythe,  to  examine  cases  placed 
in  his  care  and  to  accept  the  good  and  reject  the  bad.  It  proved  a  failure, 
and  he  withdrew  from  practice.  He  was  afterward  appointed  a  judge,  but 
declined  it  as  taking  him  too  much  from  his  family.  He  recommended  to 
me  to  read  law,  but  earnestly  opposed  my  pursuing  it  as  a  vocation.  He 
often  said  Mr.  Wythe  was  the  only  <  honest  lawyer  he  ever  knew/ 

"  General  Washington,  Mr.  Mason,  Fairfax,  McOarty, ,  Chichester, 

and  others  urged  him  to  study  divinity  and  become  their  pastor.  He 
yielded  to  their  counsels  and  was  ordained  in  London, — Beilby  Porteus, 
Lord-Bishop  of  London,  assisting  in  the  ordination.  I  have  heard  him 
speak  of  the  high  oratorical  powers  of  Dr.  Bodd,  who  then  preached  in 
the  Queen's  Chapel,  and  describe  the  personal  appearance  of  George  III. 
and  his  Queen.  He  witnessed  the  performances  of  the  famous  Garrick, 
and  thought  he  deserved  the  high  fame  he  had  won.  All  the  clergy  of 
the  Church  of  England  then  attended  the  theatre.  The  loss  of  his  fore- 
teeth impairing  his  speech  was  the  cause  of  his  ceasing  to  preach.  He 
then  studied  medicine  as  a  means  of  relieving  the  poor,  and  announced 
that  he  would  practise  without  charge.  He  said  he  was  soon  sent  for  by 
all  classes,  and  he  had  to  withdraw  altogether  and  confine  his  medical  aid 
to  giving  advice  and  medicine  at  his  office ;  and,  of  course,  with  few  ex- 
ceptions, his  advice  was  given  only  in  cases  of  children  brought  to  him. 
His  conversation  was  rich  with  anecdotes  and  reminiscences  of  the  dis- 
tinguished men  of  Virginia,  and  of  social  customs  and  manners  before  the 
Revolution.  He  had  read  deeply  the  great  volume  of  human  nature, 
and  was  a  good  judge  of  character.  He  loved  virtue,  and  hated  vice 
intensely,  and  perhaps  had  too  little  compassion  for  the  weaknesses  and 
infirmities  of  our  nature.  His  social  intercourse  was  influenced  greatly 
and  visibly  by  the  moral  character  of  the  men  he  was  brought  into  contact 


and  religious  objects,  which  associations,  at  their  fairs  and  on  other  occasions,  made 
a  large  profit  by  converting  the  fragments  into  walking-sticks,  picture-frames,  and 
snuff-boxes.  About  two-thirds  of  one  of  the  wheels  thus  produced  one  hundred  and 
forty  dollars.  There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  at  its  dissolution  it  yielded  more  to 
the  cause  of  charity  than  it  did  to  its  builder  at  its  first  erection.  Besides  other 
mementos  of  it,  I  have  in  my  study,  in  the  form  of  a  sofa,  the  hind -seal,  on  which 
the  Genera?  and  his  lady  were  wont  to  sit. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  23i* 

with.  His  manner  was  an  index  to  his  opinions  of  those  he  was  with  in  this 
respect ;  and  often  he  would  admonish  persons  of  their  vices.  His  integrity 
and  honour  were  of  the  highest  order,  and  he  detested  all  meanness  and 
double-dealing  with  his  whole  heart.  No  advantage  of  position,  or  fortune, 
or  official  distinction,  saved  the  profligate  or  unjust  and  oppressive  from  his 
open  and  strong  denunciation ;  and  no  man  had  at  his  command  a  more 
ready  wit  and  biting  sarcasm.  But  goodness  of  life  and  character — though 
clothed  in  rags  and  despised  of  men — commanded  not  only  his  sympathy  but 
open  respect.  From  these  traits,  I  have  often  heard  my  excellent  mother 
express  her  fears  that  her  father  looked  too  much  to  good  works;  but  my 
opinion  is  that  the  Christian's  faith  only  could  have  produced  and  pre- 
served so  high  a  standard  of  morality  and  so  keen  a  sense  of  moral  duty. 
My  grandfather  was  possessed  of  high  powers  of  mind,  and  they  had  been 
well  developed  and  cultivated.  He  was  a  ripe  Latin  scholar,  and  familiar 
with  all  the  best  English  writers.  He  was  remarkable  for  conciseness  of 
style  and  condensation  of  matter  in  composition.  He  admired  a  plain  and 
nervous  as  much  as  he  disliked  a  florid  and  diffuse  style :  the  more  of  the 
old  Saxon  and  the  less  of  French  or  Latin  and  Greek  derivatives  the  better. 
Addison  and  Swift  pleased  him  as  much  as  Dr.  Johnson  displeased  in  this 
particular.  He  met  death  without  fear  :  his  last  words  were,  f  The  great 
mystery  will  soon  be  solved  and  all  made  plain/ 

"  In  person  he  was  six  feet  high  and  finely  proportioned  :  his  eyes  were 
a  deep  blue,  and  expressive  to  the  last,  and  his  nose  and  mouth  well  shaped. 
I  have  often  fancied  that  in  his  youth  he  must  have  possessed  much  manly 
beauty-  He  made  his  mark  on  his  age  and  generation,  for  many  tradi- 
tions are  preserved  of  him  and  his  sayings. 

"  With  sincere  esteem  and  regard,  yours  truly, 

c(  J.  T.  STODDERT. 

"P.S. — In  the  burial-ground  of  one  of  the  Episcopal  churches  first 
erected  in  Maryland,  near  the  site  of  St.  Mary's  City,  is  a  beautiful  monu- 
ment of  Italian  marble  erected  to  the  memory  of  the  Kev.  Lee  Massey,  by 
his  parishioners,  'as  a  testimony  of  their  grateful  affection  for  the  memory 
of  their  much-loved  pastor/  It  was  placed  there  not  many  years  after  the 
settlement  of  the  Colony,  and  is  now- in  excellent  preservation.  This 
divine,  who  died  in  his  youth,  but  not  before  he  had  deeply  stamped  his 
image  on  the  heart  and  minds  of  his  charge,  was  the  uncle  of  my  grand- 
father. 

"  The  memory  of  the  devoted  zeal  and  piety  of  this  young  clergyman 
may  have  had  its  influence  in  determining  my  grandfather  to  enter  the 
ministry.  This,  however,  is  mere  speculation.  J.  T.  S." 

The  following  extract  is  from  a  second  letter  in  answer  to  further 
inquiries : — 

"  In  answer  to  your  note  of  the  14th  instant,  this  day  received,  I  state 
that  my  grandfather  was  married  three  times.  His  first  wife  (my  grand- 
mother) was  the  daughter  of  G-eorge  Johnston,  Esq.,  a  distinguished  law- 
yer residing  at  Alexandria,  with  whom  my  grandfather  read  law,  and  who 
diew  the  resolutions  against  the  Stamp  Act,*  which  were  moved,  at  his 


*  In  ascribing  the  authorship  of  the  resolutions,  offered  by  Mr.  Henry,  to  Ms  dis- 
tinguished ancestor,  Mr.  Johnston,  I  think  it  probable  my  friend,  Mr.  Stoddert,  is 


240  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

instance,  by  Patrick  Henry  in  the  Virginia  Legislature  in  1765.  Mr. 
Johnston  always  claimed  the  credit  of  being  the  first  man  who  discovered 
the  great  but  hidden  powers  of  that  unrivalled  orator.  He  had  great  diffi- 
culty in  persuading  Mr.  Henry  that  he  was  the  only  man  who  was  fitted  to 
make  such  a  speech  as  suited  the  occasion, — which  would  electrify  the 
State  and  rouse  the  people  to  resistance.  His  own  powers,  being  only 
argumentative,  would  fail  to  produce  such  an  effect.  Such  is  the  history 
of  this  bold  and  effective  movement,  which,  in  the  language  of  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son, vgave  the  first  blow  to  the  hall  of  Revolution.'  His  son  George  was 
a  member  of  General  Washington's  military  family  as  aid  and  confidential 
secretary.  When  ill-health  compelled  him  to  retire,  Washington  looked 
to  the  same  family  to  find  his  successor,  and  selected  Colonel  Robert  Han- 
son Harrison — son-in-law  of  Mr.  Johnston,  and  then  a  practising  lawyer 
in  Alexandria,  though  a  native  of  Maryland — for  this  delicate  trust.  This 
gentleman  would  have  declined  the  appointment  but  for  the  influence  of 
my  grandfather,  whose  whole  heart  was  in  the  struggle,  and  who  removed 
the  only  difficulty  by  agreeing  to  receive  his  two  orphan-daughters  in 
his  family  on  the  footing  of  his  own  children.  Colonel  Harrison,  after 
the  war,  returned  to  Maryland  and  was  made  Chief-Justice  of  the  General 
Court.  On  the  organization  of  the  Supreme  Court,  President  Washing- 
ton  selected  him  as  one  of  the  Associate  Justices, — an  appointment  at  first 
declined,  as  it  would  separate  him  from  his  daughters,  whose  education  he 
was  conducting,  but  accepted  on  an  appeal  to  his  duty  by  his  old  military 
chief,  who  said  { he  must  select  by  his  own  knowledge  the  officers  to  insure 
success  to  the  new  government/  He  died  at  Bladensburg  on  his  way  to 
Philadelphia  to  take  his  seat  on  the  bench.  These  things  show  the  many 
links  in  the  chain  of  friendship  which  bound  together  the  hero  and  patriot 
of  Mount  Vernon  and  his  pastor  and  early  associate. 

"  The  second  wife  of  my  grandfather  was  a  Miss  Burwell,  who  died  nine 
months  after  marriage.  She  was  a  lady  of  rare  excellence,  and  my  grand- 
father often  dwelt  on  her  memory  with  the  tenderest  affection.  His  last 
marriage  was  with  Miss  Bronaugh,  of  Prince  William  county,  by  whom 
he  had  two  children, — a  son,  who  was  an  officer  in  the  navy  and  was 
drowned  at  Norfolk,  and  Mrs.  Triplett.  I  think  it  probable  her  mother 
was  a  sister  of  Colonel  George  Mason,  though  I  cannot  state  it  as  a  fact.* 

mistaken.  Mr,  WIrt,  in  his  life  of  Mr.  Henry,  says  that  he  left  the  original  of  these 
resolutions,  drawn  on  the  blank  leaf  of  an  old  law-book,  with  his  will,  to  be  opened  by 
his  executors.  A  copy  of  that  original  is  framed,  and  may  be  seen  at  Red  Hill,  one  of  Ma 
places  of  residence  in  Charlotte  county,  and  now  owned  by  his  son,  John  Henry.  Mr. 
Wirt  says  that  Mr.  Henry,  after  having  prepared  the  resolutions,  showed  them  to  two 
members  of  the  House  only, — Mr.  John  Fleming,  of  Cumberland,  and  George  John- 
ston, of  Fairfax.  Mr.  Wirt  alludes  to  a  report  of  the  day,  that  they  were  drawn  by 
Mi.  Johnston,  but  says  that  it  was  unfounded.  He  speaks  of  Mr.  Johnston,  however, 
in  the  highest  terms.  The  religious  reflections  of  Mr.  Henry,  attached  to  the  copy 
of  the  resolutions  left  behind  him,  are  worthy  of  insertion  in  this  place.  As  to  the 
effects  of  our  independence  he  says,  "Whether  it  will  prove  a  blessing  or  a  curse 
will  depend  upon  the  use  our  people  make  of  the  blessings  which  a  gracious  God 
hath  bestowed  upon  us.  If  they  are  wise,  they  will  be  great  and  happy.  If  they 
are  of  a  contrary  character,  they  will  be  miserable.  Righteousness  alone  can 
exalt  them  as  a  nation.  Reader,  whoever  thou  art,  remember  this,  and  in  thy 
iphere  practise  virtue  thyself,  and  encourage  it  in  others.  P.  HBNET  " 

*  She  was  a  first-cousin  of  George  Mason 


FAMILIES    OF    VIRGINIA. 

The  Masons  claimed  Aunt  Nancy  as  a  cousin,  and  I  do  not  know  how  else 
the  relationship  could  originate.  G-eorge  Mason,  the  eldest  son  of  Colonel 
George,  married  a  first-cousin  of  my  grandfather,  as  did  Thomas  Mason,  a 
younger  son.  Martin  Cockburn — the  uncle  of  Admiral  Gockhurn,  a  native 
of  Jamaica,  whither  his  father  had  removed  from  Scotland — married  a 
sister  of  this  last  lady.  He  was  a  fine  scholar  and  polished  gentleman  and 
good  Christian.  He,  a  youth  of  eighteen  years,  was  travelling  with  Dr. 
Cockburn  in  this  country,  when  he  met  with  Miss  Bronaugh.  The  father 
objected  on  the  score  of  their  youth,  but  said  if  his  son  wished  it  at  the 
age  of  twenty-one  years,  he  would  cheerfully  assent  ;  but  the  absence  of 
three  years  was  to  intervene.  Martin  was  faithful  and  constant  to  his  first 
love  and  returned.  A  new  difficulty  then  sprung  up  :  the  lady  would  not 
go  to  Jamaica,  and  the  gentleman  had  to  come  to  Virginia.  He  pur- 
chased a  residence  near  Colonel  Mason's,  (an  adjoining  farm,)  and  a  few 
miles  from  my  grandfather,  where  both  husband  and  wife  lived  to  an  ad- 
vanced age.  I  have  often  heard  my  grandfather  say  that  they  were  the 
only  couple,  he  believed,  who  had  lived  fifty  years  together  without  one 
word,  look,  or  act  to  disturb  their  harmony  for  a  moment,  Such  was  said 
to  be  the  fact  in  their  case.  The  courteous  and  affectionate  attentions 
which  each  paid  to  the  other  impressed  my  mind  when  a  child,  and  are 
now  present  to  my  recollection  with  vivid  distinctness.  Nothing  but  the 
gentle  teachings  of  Him  who  taught  as  man  never  taught  could  have 
wrought  so  beautiful  a  picture  of  conjugal  love,  forbearance,  and  peace/' 

It  should  be  stated  that  the  old  church,  called  Payne's  Church, 
near  the  railroad,  and  a  few  miles  from  Fairfax  Court-House,  as 
vrell  as  the  new  one  at  the  court-house,  are  both,  in  Truro  pariak, 


Vat.  n  —16 


24SJ  OLD  CHUKCHES,  MINISTEBS,   AND 


ARTICLE  LXVIIL 

The  Religious  Character  of  Washington. 

AN  interesting  question  in  relation  to  Washington  will  now  be 
considered, — viz. :  What  are  the  proofs  of  his  personal  piety  ?  This 
work  is  already  done  to  my  hands  by  the  Rev.  E.  C.  McGuire,  of 
Fredericksburg,  from  whose  careful  and  faithful  volume  on  the 
"  Religious  Opinions  and  Character  of  Washington"  I  select  the 
fo^wing  particulars.  He  was  the  child  of  pious  parents  and 
ancestors,  was  baptized  in  his  second  month, — Mr.  Beverley  Whiting 
and  Captain  Christopher  Brooks  godfathers,  and  Mrs.  Mildred 
Gregory  godmother, — at  a  time  when  care  was  taken  to  instruct  the 
children  in  our  holy  religion,  according  to  the  Scriptures  as  set 
forth  in  the  standards  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  Until  he  had 
passed  his  eleventh  year  he  enjoyed  the  superintending  care  of 
both  parents,  and  after  that  of  his  mother  and  uncle.  It  is  also 
believed  that,  besides  the  instructions  of  the  parish  sexton  and  Mr. 
Williams,  he  also  sat  under  the  ministry  of  the  Rev.  Archibald 
Campbell,  and  perhaps  was  for  a  time  at  his  school  in  Washington 
parish,  Westmoreland  county.  While  with  his  mother  in  Fredericks- 
burg,  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  his  receiving  pious  instruction  from 
.her  and  her  minister,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Marye.  While  at  school,  he 
was  remarkable  for  his  abhorrence  of  the  practice  of  fighting  among 
the  boys,  and,  if  unable  to  prevent  a  contest,  would  inform  the 
teacher  of  the  design.  When  about  thirteen  years  of  age  he  drew 
up  a  number  of  resolutions,  taken  from  books,  or  the  result  of  his 
own  reflections.  Among  them  is  the  following : — "When  you  speak 
of  God  or  his  attributes,  let  it  be  seriously,  in  reverence."  "  Labour 
to  keep  alive  in  your  breast  that  little  spark  of  celestial  fire  called 
conscience."  At  the  age  of  fifteen  his  filial  piety  was  remarkably 
displayed  in  relinquishing  an  earnest  desire  to  enter  the  navy,  just 
when  about  to  embark,  out  of  a  tender  regard  to  his  mother's  wishes. 
The  religious  sentiments  of  his  mother  and  of  himself  were  drawn 
from  the  Bible  and,  Prayer-Book,  and  next  to  them,  from  the  "  Con- 
templations, Moral  and  Divine,  of  Sir  Matthew  Hale,"  judging  from 
the  great  use  which  seems  to  have  been  made  of  this  book  by  both 
of  them;  and  in  no  uninspired  book  do  we  find  a  purer  and  more 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  243 

elevated  Christianity.*  Should  it  be  said  that,  notwithstanding  his 
early  religious  education  and  some  indications  of  youthful  piety,  he 
may  have  fallen  into  the  irreligion  and  skepticism  of  the  age,  and 
should  proofs  of  his  sincere  belief  of  Christianity,  as  a  divine  reve- 
lation, be  asked  for,  we  will  proceed  to  furnish  them.  At  a  time 
when  so  many  of  tae  chief  men  in  France  and  America,  and  even 
some  in  England,  were  renouncing  the  Christian  faith,  and  when 
he  was  tempted  to  be  silent  at  least  on  the  subject,  in  his  public 
addresses,  he  seems  to  have  taken  special  pains  to  let  his  sentiments 
be  known,  and  to  impress  them  upon  the  nation,  in  opposition  to 
the  skepticism  of  the  age, — a  skepticism  which  was  sought  by  some 
leading  men  to  be  propagated  with  great  zeal  among  the  youth  of 
Virginia. 

In  his  address  to  the  Governors  of  the  States,  dated  at  Head- 
Quarters,  June,  1783,  when  about  to  surrender  up  his  military  com- 
mand, speaking  of  the  many  blessings  of  the  land,  he  says,  "And, 
above  all,  the  pure  and  benign  light  of  revelation."  He  also  speaks 
of  "that  humility  and  pacific  temper  of  mind  which  were  the  cha- 
racteristics of  the  divine  Author  of  our  blessed  religion." 

In  his  farewell  address  to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  on 
leaving  the  Presidential  chair,  he  again  introduces  the  same  sub- 
ject:— "  Of  all  the  dispositions  and  habits  which  lead  to  political 
prosperity,  religion  and  morality  are  indispensable  supports.  A 
volume  could  not  trace  all  their  connections  with  private  and  public 
felicity."  He  warns  against  the  attempt  to  separate  them,  and  to 
think  that  "national  morality  can  prevail  to  the  exclusion  of  re- 
ligious  principles" 

No  candid  man  can  read  these  and  other  expressions,  in  the  pub- 
lic addresses  of  Washington,  without  acknowledging  that,  as  though 
he  were  the  great  high-priest  of  the  nation,  availing  himself  of  his 
position  and  of  the  confidence  reposed  in  him,  lie  was  raising  his 
warning  voice  against  that  infidelity  which  was  desolating  France 
and  threatening  our  own  land.  That  Washington  was  regarded 
throughout  America,  both  among  our  military  and  political  men,  as 
a  sincere  believer  in  Christianity,  as  then  received  among  us,  and 
a  devout  man,  is  as  clear  as  any  fact  in  our  history.  Judge  Mar- 
shall, the  personal  friend,  the  military  and  political  associate,  of 
Washington,  says,  "He  was  a  sincere  believer  in  the  Christian 
faith,  and  a  truly  devout  man."  Judge  Boudinot,  who  knew  him 

*  The  book  appears  to  have  been  much  used,  and  has  many  pencil-marks  in  it, 
noting  choice  passages* 


244  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

well  during  and  after  the  Revolution,  testifies  to  the  same.  Gene- 
ral Henry  Lee,  who  served  under  him  during  the  war,  and  after- 
ward in  the  civil  department,  and  who  was  chosen  by  Congress  to 
deliver  his  funeral  oration,  says,  in  that  oration,  "  First  in  war, 
first  in  peace,  and  first  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen,  he  was  second 
to  none  in  the  endearing  scenes  of  private  life.  Pious,  just,  humane, 
temperate,  and  sincere, — uniform,  dignified,  and  commanding, — his 
example  was  edifying  to  all  around  him,  as  were  the  effects  of  that 
example  lasting."  Sermons  and  orations  by  divines  and  states- 
men were  delivered  all  over  the  land  at  the  death  of  Washington. 
A  large  volume  of  such  was  published.  I  have  seen  and  read  them, 
and  the  religious  character  of  Washington  was  a  most  prominent 
feature  in  them;  and  for  this  there  must  have  been  some  good 
cause.  Let  the  following  extracts  suffice.  Mr.  Sewell,  of  New 
Hampshire,  says: — 

"To  crown  all  these  moral  virtues,  he  had  the  deepest  sense  of  religion 
impressed  on  his  heart, — the  true  foundation-stone  of  all  the  moral  virtues. 
He  constantly  attended  the  public  worship  of  God  on  the  Lord's  day,  was 
a  communicant  at  His  table,  and  by  his  devout  and  solemn  deportment 
inspired  every  beholder  with  some  portion  of  that  awe  and  reverence  for 
the  Supreme  Being,  of  which  he  felt  so  large  a  portion.  For  my  own  part, 
I  trust  I  shall  never  lose  the  impression  made  on  my  own  mind  in  behold- 
ing in  this  house  of  prayer  the  venerable  hero,  the  victorious  leader  of 
our  hosts,  bending  in  humble  adoration  to  the  G-od  of  armies  and  great 
Captain  of  our  salvation.  Hard  and  unfeeling,  indeed,  must  that  heart  be 
that  could  sustain  the  sight  unmoved,  or  its  owner  depart  unsoftened  and 
unedified.  Let  the  deist  reflect  on  this,  and  remember  that  Washington, 
the  saviour  of  his  country,  did  not  disdain  to  acknowledge  and  adore  a 
greater  Saviour,  whom  deists  and  infidels  affect  to  slight  and  despise." 

Thus  spake  New  Hampshire.  What  says  South  Carolina? 
David  Ramsay,  the  historian,  says: — 

"Washington  was  the  friend  of  morality  and  religion;  steadily  attended 
on  public  worship;  encouraged  and  strengthened  the  hands  of  the  clergy. 
IE  all  his  public  acts  he  made  the  most  respectful  mention  of  Providence, 
and,  in  a  word,  carried  the  spirit  of  piety  with  him,  both  in  his  private  life 
and  public  administration.  He  was  far  from  being  one  of  those  minute 
philosophers  who  think  that  death  is  an  eternal  sleep,  or  of  those  who, 
trusting  to  the  sufficiency  of  human  reason,  discard  the  light  of  divine 
revelation." 

Mr*  J.  Biglow,  of  Boston,  says : — 

"In  Washington  religion  was  a  steady  principle  of  action.  After  the 
surrender  of  Cornwallis  he  ascribes  the  glory  to  God,  and  orders,  'That 
divine  service  shall  be  performed  to-morrow  in  the  different  brigades  and 
divisions,  and  recommends  that  all  the  troops  not  on  duty  do  assist  at  it 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  245 

with  a  serious  deportment  and  that  sensibility  of  heart  which  the  recollec- 
tion of  the  surprising  and  particular  interposition  of  Providence  in  our 
favour  claims.7 " 

To  the  foregoing  I  will  only  add,  that  Major  William  Jackson, 
aid-de-camp  to  Washington,  in  his  address,  speaks  of  the  "  milder 
radiance  of  religion  and  morality  'as  shining  in  his  character/  and 
of  his  being  beloved  and  admired  by  the  holy  ministers  of  re- 
ligion ;"  and  that  Captain  Dunham  of  the  Revolution,  in  his  oration, 
says  of  him,  u  A  friend  to  our  holy  religion,  he  was  ever  guided 
by  its  pious  doctrines.  He  had  embraced  the  tenets  of  the  Epis- 
copal Church ;  yet  his  charity,  unbounded  as  his  immortal  mind,  led 
him  equally  to  respect  every  denomination  of  the  followers  of 
Jesus."  The  Rev.  Mr.  Kirkland,  of  Boston,  says,  "The  virtues 
of  our  departed  friend  were  crowned  with  piety.  He  is  known  to 
have  been  habitually  devout."  We  conclude  with  the  testimony  of 
our  own  Devereux  Jarratt,  of  Virginia,  whom  none  will  suspect  of 
flattery  or  low  views  of  religion : — 

"Washington  was  a  professor  of  Christianity  and  a  member  of  the  Pro- 
testant Episcopal  Church.  He  always  acknowledged  the  superintendence 
of  Divine  Providence,  and  from  his  inimitable  writings  we  find  him  a 
warm  advocate  for  a  sound  morality  founded  on  the  principles  of  religion, 
the  only  basis  on  which  it  can  stand.  Nor  did  I  ever  meet  with  the  most 
distant  insinuation  that  his  private  life  was  not  a  comment  on  his  admired 
page." 

Nor  was  the  belief  of  his  piety  confined  to  America.  The  Rev. 
Thomas  Wilson,  the  pious  son  of  the  pious  Bishop  Wilson,  of  Sodor 
and  Mann,  thought  he  could  make  no  more  suitable  present  to 
General  Washington  than  his  father's  family  Bible  in  three  volumes, 
with  notes,  and  a  folio  volume  of  his  father's  works.  The  former 
was  left  by  the  will  of  General  Washington  to  his  friend  the  Rev. 
Bryan  Fairfax,  minister  of  Christ  Church,  Alexandria;  the  latter 
is,  I  presume,  still  in  the  Arlington  library.  Prom  the  latter  I 
selected,  forty-six  years  ago,  a  small  volume  of  private  and  family 
prayers,  as  I  have  elsewhere  stated 

If  more  certain  proofs  of  personal  piety  in  Washington  be  re- 
quired than  these  general  impressions  and  declarations  of  his  co- 
evals and  compatriots,  founded  on  their  observation  of  his  public 
conduct,  and  derived  from  his  public  addresses,  we  proceed  to 
furnish  them.  They  will  be  taken  from  the  testimony  of  those 
whose  intimacy  with  his  domestic  habits  enable  them  to  judge,  and 
from  his  own  diary.  As  to  his  private  devotions,  of  course  the 
same  kind  of  testimony  is  not  to  be  expected  as  that  which  attests 


246  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

his  public  observances.  It  may  most  positively  be  affirmed,  that 
the  impression  on  the  minds  of  his  family  was,  that  when  on  each 
night  he  regularly  took  his  candle  and  went  to  his  study  at  nine 
o'clock  and  remained  there  until  ten,  it  was  for  the  purpose  of 
reading  the  Scriptures  and  prayer*  It  is  affirmed  by  more  than 
one  that  he  has  been  seen  there  on  his  knees  and  also  been  heard 
at  his  prayers.  In  like  manner  it  is  believed,  that  when  at  five 
o'clock  each  morning,  winter  and  summer,  he  went  to  that  same 
study,  a  portion  of  time  was  then  spent  in  the  same  way.  It  is 
also  well  known  that  it  was  the  impression  in  the  army  that  Wash- 
ington, either  in  his  tent  or  in  his  room,  practised  the  same  thing. 
One  testifies  to  having  seen  him  on  more  than  one  occasion  thus 
engaged  on  his  bended  knees.  It  is  firmly  believed  that  when  in 
crowded  lodgings  at  Valley  Forge,  where  every  thing  was  unfa- 
vourable to  private  devotions,  his  frequent  visits  to  a  neighbouring 
wood  were  for  this  purpose.  It  is  also  a  fact  well  known  to  the 
family  that,  when  prevented  from  public  worship,  he  used  to 
read  the  Scriptures  and  other  books  with  Mrs.  Washington  in  her 
chamber. 

That  there  was  a  devotional  spirit  in  Washington,  a  belief  in  the 
virtue  of  prayer,  leading  to  private  supplication,  is  also  rendered 
most  probable  by  his  conduct  as  an  officer  in  seeking  to  have  public 
prayer  for  his  soldiers,  and  even  conducting  them  himself  in  the 
absence  of  a  minister. 

At  twenty-two  years  of  age,  when  heading  an  expedition  against 
the  Indians,  he  was  in  the  habit  of  having  prayer  in  the  camp  at 
Fort  Necessity,  at  the  Great  Meadows,  in  the  Alleghany  Mountains. 
His  friend  and  neighbour,  Mr.  William  Fairfax,  of  Belvoir,  a  few 
miles  from  Mount  Vernon,  and  whose  daughter,  Lawrence,  the  elder 
brother  of  George  Washington,  married,  thus  writes  to  him  while 
at  the  Great  Meadows,  and  in  the  letter  evinces  not  only  his  own 
pious  disposition,  but  his  confidence  in  that  of  the  youthful  Wash- 
ington:— "I  will  not  doubt  your  having  public  prayer  in-the  camp, 
especially  when  the  Indian  families  are  your  guests,  that  they,  see- 
ing your  plain  manner  of  worship,  may  have  their  curiosity  to  be 
informed  why  we  do  not  use  the  ceremonies  of  the  French,  which, 
being  well  explained  to  their  understandings,  will  more  and  more 
dispose  them  to  receive  our  baptism  and  unite  in  strict  bonds  of 
cordial  friendship/' 

In  the  year  1755,  Washington  was  the  volunteer  aid-de-camp  to 
General  Braddock,  and,  though  in  danger  of  pursuit  by  the  Indians, 
he  did,  on  the  night  after  the  memorable  defeat,  in  the  absence  of 


FAMILIES   01    VIRGINIA,  247 

5,  chaplain,  himself  perform  the  last  funeral  rites  over  the  body  of 
Braddock,  a  soldier  holding  the  candle  or  lighted  torch  while  the 
solemn  words  were  read.  For  several  successive  years  Washing- 
ton was  engaged  in  a  trying  contest  with  the  Indians,  and  during 
a  considerable  portion  of  that  time — according  to  the  testimony 
of  one  of  his  aids,  Colonel  B.  Temple,  of  King  William  county — 
he  frequently,  on  the  Sabbath,  performed  divine  service,  reading 
•tfie  Scriptures  and  praying  with  them  when  no  chaplain  could  be 
had.  It  was  during  this  period  that  a  sharp  correspondence  was 
carried  on  between  Washington  and'  Dinwiddie,  the  latter  being 
DfFended  at  the  persevering  importunity  of  the  former  that  a  chap- 
lain might  be  allowed  his  army.  At  the  recall  of  Dinwiddie,  Wash- 
ington addressed  the  following  letter  to  the  President  of  the  Council, 
who  was  chief  in  the  Colony  until  the  arrival  of  Governor  Fauquier, 
Baying,  "The  last  Assembly,  in  their  Supply  Bill,  provided  for  a 
chaplain  to  our  regiment.  On  this  subject  I  had  often,  without  any 
success,  applied  to  Governor  Dinwiddie.  I  now  flatter  myself  that 
your  honour  will  be  pleased  to  appoint  a  sober,  serious  man  for  this 
duty.  Common  decency,  sir,  in  a  camp,  calls  for  the  services  of  a 
divine,  which  ought  not  to  be  dispensed  with,  although  the  world 
may  think  us  void  of  religion  and  incapable  of  good  instructions." 

In  the  year  1759  Colonel  Washington  was  married,  and  until  the 
Revolution  lived  at  Mount  Vernon.  That  he  was  interested  in  the 
affairs  of  the  Church  at  this  time  is  evident  from  what  we  have  said 
as  to  the  part  he  acted  in  relation  to  the  building  of  Pohick  Church. 
The  Kev.  Lee  Massey  was  the  minister  during  part  of  this  time. 
His  testimony  was,  "I  never  knew  so  constant  an  attendant  at 
church  as  Washington.  His  behaviour  in  the  house  of  God  was 
ever  so  reverential  that  it  produced  the  happiest  effects  on  my  con- 
gregation and  greatly  assisted  me  in  my  pulpit  labours.  No  com- 
pany ever  kept  him  from  church." 

In  the  year  1774  he  was  sent  as  a  Burgess  to  Wflliamsburg.  It 
was  at  that  time  that  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer  was  appointed  in 
view  of  the  approaching  difficulties  with  England.  The  following 
entry  in  his  diary  shows  his  conduct  ou  that  occasion : — "  June  1st, 
Wednesday.  Went  to  church  and  fasted  all  day/'  In  September 
of  that  year  he  was  in  Philadelphia,  a  member  of  the  first  Congress. 
In  his  diary  he  speaks  of  going,  during  the  three"  first  Sabbaths, 
three  times  to  Episcopal  churches,  once  to  the  Quaker,  once  to  the 
Presbyterian,  and  once  to  the  Roman  Catholic.  He  was  a  member 
of  Congress  again  the  next  year,  and  then  chosen  commander-in- 
chief  of  our  army.  On  the  day  after  assuming  its  command  he 


248  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

issued  the  following  order: — "The  General  requires  and  expects  of 
all  officers  and  soldiers,  not  engaged  on  actual  duty,  a  punctual 
attendance  on  divine  service,  to  implore  the  blessings  of  Heaven 
upon  the  means  used  for  our  safety  and  defence/'  On  the  15th  of 
May,  1776,  Congress  having  appointed  a  day  of  humiliation,  the 
fallowing  order  is  given: — "The  General  commands  all  officers  and 
soldiers  to  pay  strict  obedience  to  the  order  of  the  Continental 
Congress,  that  by  their  unfeigned  and  pious  observant  of  their 
religious  duties  they  may  incline  the  Lord  and  giver  jf  victory  to 
prosper  our  arms."  The  situation  of  the  army  not  admitting  the 
regular  service  every  Sunday,  he  requires  the  chaplains  to  meet 
together  and  agree  on  some  method  of  performing  it  at  other  times, 
and  make  it  known  to  him.  Such  was  Washington  as  head  of  the 
army. 

As  President  of  the  United  States  his  conduct  exhibited  the  same 
faith  in  and  reverence  for  religion.  Not  only  did  he  regularly 
attend  divine  service  in  the  Church  of  his  fathers  and  of  his  choice, 
but  he  let  it  be  understood  that  he  would  receive  no  visits  on  the 
Sabbath.  The  only  exception  to  this  was  an  occasional  visit,  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  day,  from  his  old  friend,  the  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  Colonel  Trumbull,  who  was  confessedly 
one  of  the  most  pious  men  of  the  age,  and  who  would  not  have 
sought  the  company  of  an  irreligious  man  on  the  Sabbath,  even 
though  that  man  were  President  of  the  United  States,  On  the 
subject  of  a  strict  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  we  might  have  men- 
tioned other  proofs  of  it,  occurring  before  his  being  elevated  to  the 
chief  command  of  the  army  or  first  Presidency  in  the  Eepublic. 
His  private  diary  shows  it  in  various  places.  Let  one  suffice.  On 
a  certain  occasion  he  was  informed  on  Saturday  evening  that  the 
smallpox  was  among  his  servants  in  the  valley.  He  set  out  the 
next  morning  to  visit  them,  but  notes  in  his  diary,  "  Took  church 
on  the  way,"  thus  combining  duty  to  the  poor  and  to  his  God. 

His  condemnation  of  the  prevailing  vices  of  the  day  deserves  also 
to  be  ^mentioned  in  proof  that  he  understood  Christianity  as  being 
that  "grace  of  God  which  hath  appeared  unto  all  men,  teaching 
us  that,  denying  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  we  should  live 
soberly,  righteously,  and  godly  in  this  present  evil  world." 

Not  only  was  he  addicted  to  no  kind  of  intemperance,  scarcely  ever 
tasting  ardent  spirits  or  exceeding  two  glasses  of  wine, — which  was 
equal  to  total  abstinence  in  our  day, — and  not  using  tobacco  in  any 
shape,  but  he  used  his  authority  in  the  army  to  the  utmost  to  put 
down  swearing,  games  of  chance,  ani  drinking,  and  irregularities 


FAMILIES    OF  VIBG-INTA.  249 

of  every  other  kind.  Whilst  at  Fort  Cumberland  in  1757,  we  find 
the  following  order: — "Colonel  Washington  has  observed  that  the 
men  of  his  regiment  are  very  profane  and  reprobate.  He  takes  this 
opportunity  to  inform  them  of  his  great  displeasure  at  such  practices, 
and  assures  them  that  if  they  do  not  leave  them  off  they  shall  be 
severely  punished.  The  officers  are  desired,  if  they  hear  any  man 
swear,  or  make  use  of  an  oath  or  execration,  to  order  the  offender 
twenty-five  lashes  immediately,  without  a  court-martial.  For  the 
second  offence  he  shall  be  punished  more  severely."  The  day  after 
General  Washington  took  command  of  the  American  army  he  issued 
orders  to  the  troops,  from  which  we  take  the  following : — "  The 
General  most  earnestly  requires  and  expects  a  due  observance  of 
those  articles  of  war  which  prohibit  profane  cursing,  swearing,  and 
drunkenness,"  and  soon  after  issued  the  following  order: — 

"  All  officers,  non-commissioned  officers,  and  soldiers  are  posi- 
tively forbid  playing  at  cards  and  other  games  of  chance.  At  this 
time  of  public  distress  men  may  find  enough  to  do  in  the  service 
of  their  God  and  their  country,  without  abandoning  themselves  to 
vice  and  immorality.'*  Again,  we  find  in  August  of  that  year  an 
order  in  these  remarkable  words : — "  The  General  is  sorry  to  be  in- 
formed that  the  foolish  and  wicked  practice  of  profane  cursing  and 
swearing — a  vice  hitherto  little  known  in  the  American  army — is 
growing  into  fashion.  He  hopes  the  officers  will,  by  example  as 
well  as  influence,  endeavour  to  check  it ;  and  that  both  they  and 
the  men  will  reflect  that  we  can  have  little  hope  of  the  blessing  of 
Heaven  on  our  arms,  if  we  insult  it  by  our  own  folly  and  impiety : 
added  to  this,  it  is  a  vice  so  mean  and  low,  without  any  temptation, 
that  every  man  of  sense  and  character  detests  and  despises  it." 
And  is  this  the  man  of  whom  some  have  reported  that  he  was 
addicted  to  this  very  disgusting  vice,  only  saying  that  he  did  it 
most  gracefully  and  swore  like  an  angel  ?  Credat  Judceus  Apella. 
It  has  also  been  attempted  by  some  to  introduce  greater  variety  into 
the  character  of  Washington,  and  bring  him  down  to  the  common 
level,  by  representing  him  as  passionately  fond  not  merely  of  the 
chase  and  much  addicted  to  it,  but  also  of  the  dance,  the  ballroom, 
and  the  theatre.  On  what  ground  does  this  rest  ?  His  fondness 
for  the  chase  is  associated  with  that  of  Lord  Fairfax,  during  the 
time  that  he  lived  at  Mount  Vernon  and  his  lordship  at  Belvoir, 
the  seat  of  his  relation,  William  Fairfax,  a  few  miles  off.  But  how 
long  did  this  sporting-intimacy  continue?  Washington  came  to 
Mount  Vernon  in  his  sixteenth  year.  Lord  Fairfax  came  to 
Virginia  at  that  time,  und  young  Washington  for  a  few  months 


OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   ANU 

sometimes  attended  Mm  in  hunting,  but  not  neglecting  his  mathe- 
matical studies  and  surveying,  which  recommended  him  to  Lord 
Fairfax  as  a  suitable  agent  in  the  valley.  At  the  beginning  of  his 
seventeenth  year,  Washington  came  over  the  Blue  Ridge  on  duty, — 
laborious  duty.  Lord  Fairfax,  after  visiting  England,  settled  at 
Greenway  Court.  His  house  was  only  the  occasional  abode  of 
Washington  during  the  two  years  in  which  he  was  surveying  and 
dividing  the  immense  landed  possessions  of  Lord  Fairfax,  and  also 
acting  as  public  surveyor  in  all  Western  Virginia.  What  time  was 
Mt  him  to  waste  in  the  sports  of  the  chase  ?  From  the  age  of 
nineteen  he  was  faithfully  and  painfully  serving  his  country  in  the 
field  of  battle,  except  when  on  his  voyage  to  the  West  Indies  with 
a  sick  brother.  During  the  period  between  his  marriage  and  the 
Revolution,  he  was  a  most  diligent  farmer  at  Mount  Vernon,— 
sometimes  visiting  his  plantations  in  Jefferson,  and  acting  as  Burgess 
in  Virginia  and  Delegate  to  the  earlier  American  Congresses. 
What  time,  I  ask,  for  the  sports  of  the  field  ?  What  do  we  find,  in 
his  diary,  of  dogs  and  kennels  and  the  chase  ?  We  do  not  say  that 
he  may  never  have  thus  exercised  himself  at  a  time  and  in  a  country 
where  game  and  forests  abounded  and  it  was  less  a  waste  of  time 
than  at  other  periods  and  other  places :  but  how  different  must  have 
been  the  pursuit  with  Washington  from  that  of  the  idlers  of  his 
day  ?*  And  as  to  his  admiration  of  the  theatre  and  his  delighting 
in  its  ludicrous  and  indelicate  exhibitions,  does  it  seem  probable 


*  In  proof  of  how  little  dependence  is  to  be  placed  on  assertions  of  this  kind,  I 
quote  a  passage  from  the  life  of  General  Muhlenberg.  While  a  minister  at  Wood- 
stock, in  what  is  now  in  Shenandoah  county,  in  the  Valley,  he  was  among  the  first 
to  join  Evolutionary  movements  in  1774.  It  is  said  that  he  "  corresponded  ex- 
tensively with  the  prominent  Whigs  of  the  Colony,  and  with  two  of  whom— Washing- 
ton and  Henry — he  was  on  terms  of  personal  intimacy.  "With  the  former  he  had 
frequently  hunted  deer  among  the  mountains  of  his  district ;  and  it  is  said  that,  fond 
as  Washington  was  of  the  rifle  and  skilled  in  its  use,  on  trial  he  found  himself  in- 
ferior to  the  Pennsylvanian."  Now,  Mr.  Kohlenberg  did  not  come  to  the  Valley 
until  twenty  years  after  Washington  had  left  the  service  of  Lord  Fairfax,  and  four- 
teen years  after  he  had  been  settled  at  Mount  Vernon  as  a  farmer.  Mr.  Muhlen- 
berg  came  to  Virginia  in  the  fall  of  1772,  and  in  the  summer  of  1774  he  was— 
though  a  clergyman — in  the  House  of  Burgesses  and  Convention  with  Washington 
and  Henry,  and  there,  in  all  human  probability,  commenced  their  acquaintance 
and  subsequent  correspondence.  As  for  Washington's  frequently  hunting  deer  with 
him  in  the  mountains  of  Shenandoah,  during  the  short  time  Mr.  Muhlenberg  was 
there,  preceding  their  meeting  in  Williamsburg,  it  is  a  most  improbable  conjecture 
Washington  was,  during  that  time,  busy  with  his  farm  at  "Mount  Vernon  and  as  a 
Delegate  to  the  House  of  Burgesses,  He  visited  his  estates  in  Jefferson  occasion- 
ally, but  I  believe  there  was  nothing  to  draw  him  to  the  mountains  of  Shenandoab 


FAMILIES  OF  VIRGINIA.  251 

that  the  graye  and  dignified  Washington,  with  all  the  cares  of  the 
army  and  afterward  of  the  state  pressing  upon  him,  should  have 
found  time  for  such  entertainments  ?  In  a  letter  to  the  President 
of  Congress,  dated  New  York,  April,  1776,  he  thus  writes : — •*  I 
give  in  to  no  kind  of  amusements  myself,  and  consequently  those 
about  me  [alluding  to  his  aids]  can  have  none."  On  the  12th  of 
October,  1778,  the  following  preamble  and  resolutions  were  adopted 
by  the  American  Congress: — "Whereas,  true  religion  and  good 
morals  are  the  only  solid  foundation  of  public  liberty  and  happi- 
ness, Therefore,  resolved,  that  it  be,  and  is  hereby,  recommended  to 
the  several  States  to  take  the  most  effectual  measures  for  the  en- 
couragement thereof,  and  for  suppressing  theatrical  entertainments , 
horse-racing,  gaming,  and  such  other  diversions  as  are  productive 
of  idleness,  dissipation,  and  a  general  depravity  of  manners."  Is 
it  probable  that  Washington,  at  the  head  of  the  army,  then  calling 
upon  his  officers  and  soldiers  to  abandon  their  oaths  and  drinking 
and  games  of  chance,  in  obedience  to  military  laws  and  lest  they 
should  offend  God  and  lose  his  favour,  would  himself  despise  and 
disobey  this  solemn  call  of  Congress,  and  that  too  when  the  names  of 
Adams  and  (jerry,  Sherman  and  Ellsworth,  Morris  and  Dean,  Lee 
and  Smith,  of  Virginia,  Laurence  and  Mathews,  of  South  Carolina, 
were  on  the  list  of  those  who  voted  for  it,  and  so  few  were  against  it  ? 

As  to  Washington's  passionate  fondness  for  the  dance,  if  Cicero 
thought  it  an  unbecoming  exercise  for  any  Roman  citizen,  as  be- 
neath the  dignity  of  any  who  were  admitted  to  the  citizenship  of 
that  great  republic,  how  unlikely  that  our  great  Washington — even 
if  feeling  no  religious  objection  to  this  childish  amusement — 
should  be  still  a  child  and  delight  himself  in  such  frivolous  things ! 
May  we  not  rather  suppose  him  to  have  felt  and  said,  with  a  great 
man  in  Israel  when  tempted  to  leave  the  work  of  the  Lord — the 
building  of  his  house  on  Mount  Zion — and  come  down  to  some 
meeting  in  one  of  the  villages  of  the  plain,  "J  am  doing  a  great 
work,  so  that  I  cannot  come  down"?  Let  not  the  sons  and  daughters 
of  idleness,  vanity,  and  pleasure  seek  to  find  a  sanction  for  their 
favourite  amusements  in  the  example  of  Washington, — even  though 
in  a  dark  age  and  under  peculiar  circumstances  he  may  at  times 
have  lent  himself  to  some  of  them. 

I  come  now  to  speak  of  that  feature  in  Washington's  religious 
character  which  must  most  forcibly  strike  every  reader  of  his  public 
and  private  communications, — his  firm  reliance  on  a  special  Provi- 
dence, as  distinguished  from  that  philosophic  belief  in  Providence 
which  is  little  better  than  atheism.  In  a  letter  to  his  brother,  John 


252  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

A.  Washington,  written  a  few  days  after  Braddock's  defeat,  he  says, 
u  By  the  all-powerful  dispensations  of  Providence,  I  have  been  pro- 
tected beyond  all  human  probability  or  expectation ;  for  I  had  four 
bullets  through  my  coat  and  two  horses  shot  under  me, — yet  escaped 
unhurt, — although  death  was  levelling  my  companions  on  every  side 
of  me."  In  his  entrance  on  the  contest  with  England,  he  thus 
writes  to  General  Gage : — <*  May  that  God  to  whom  you  appeal 
judge  between  America  and  you  !  Tinder  his  providence,  tho&e  who 
influenced  the  councils  of  America,  and  all  the  other  inhabitants 
of  the  Colonies,  at  the  hazard  of  their  lives,  are  determined  to  hand 
down  to  posterity  those  just  and  invaluable  privileges  which  they 
received  from  their  ancestors."  In  a  letter  to  his  friend,  Joseph 
Reed,  in  1776,  under  some  great  trials  in  relation  to  his  supplies, 
he  writes,  "  How  it  will  end,  God  in  his  great  goodness  will  direct.- 
I  am  thankful  for  his  protection  to  this  time."  In  his  address  to 
the  General  Assembly  of  Massachusetts,  after  the  evacuation  of 
Boston  without  blood,  he  ascribes  it  "  to  the  interposition  of  that 
Providence  which  has  manifestly  appeared  in  our  behalf  through 
the  whole  of  this  important  struggle."  Speaking  of  the  expecta- 
tion of  a  bloody  battle,  he  says,  in  a  letter  to  his  brother  John,  "It 
is  to  be  hoped  that,  if  our  cause  be  just, — as  I  do  most  religiously 
believe  it  to  be, — the  same  Providence  which  has  in  so  many  in- 
stances appeared  for  us  will  still  go  on  to  afford  its  aid."  In  view 
of  an  expected  attack  from  the  combined  forces  of  the  enemy  he 
thus  calls  on  his  soldiers  : — "  The  fate  of  unborn  millions  will  now 
depend,  under  Grod,  on  the  courage  and  conduct  of  this  army.  Let 
us  rely  upon  the  goodness  of  the  cause,  and  the  aid  of  the  Supreme 
£einffy  in  whose  hand  victory  w,  to  animate  and  encourage  us  to 
noble  actions."  After  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne's  army,  he  writes 
to  his  brother  John,  "I  most  devoutly  congratulate  my  country  and 
every  well-wisher  to  the  cause  on  this  signal  stroke  of  Providence/' 
In  the  year  1778,  just  after  the  battle  of  Monmouth,  he  writes  to 
his  brother,  that  all  would  have  been  lost  "had  not  that  bountiful 
Providence,  which  has  never  failed  us  in  the  hour  of  distress,  enabled 
me  to  form  a  regiment  or  two  of  those  who  were  retreating  in  the 
face  of  the  enemy  and  under  their  fire."  To  General  Nelson,  in 
that  same  year,  in  taking  a  retrospect  of  the  vicissitudes  of  the 
war,  he  says,  "  The  hand  of  Providence  is  so  conspicuous  in  all  this, 
that  he  must  be  worse  than  an  infidel  that  lacks  faith,  and  more 
than  wicked  that  has  not  gratitude  enough  to  acknowledge  his  obli- 
gations." In  a  letter  to  Benjamin  Harrison,  in  1778,  he  writes, 
"Providence  has  heretofore  taken  care  of  us  when  all  other  means 


FAMILIES    OP    VIRGINIA.  253 

seemed  to  be  departing  from  us."  To  General  Armstrong,  in  1781, 
he  writes,  "  Our  affairs  are  brought  to  a  perilous  crisis,  that  the 
hand  of  Providence  may  be  more  conspicuous  in  our  deliverance. 
The  many  remarkable  interpositions  of  the  Divine  government  in 
the  hours  of  our  deepest  distress  and  darkness  have  been  too  lumi- 
nous to  suffer  me  to  doubt  the  issue  of  the  present  contest."  The 
foregoing  are  only  a  few  out  of  the  many  passages  which  pervade 
all  the  private  letters  and  public  communications  of  Washington 
touching  a  special  Providence.  Is  it  too  much  to  say  that  the 
communications  of  no  king,  ruler,  general,  or  statesman  in  Chris- 
tendom ever  so  abounded  in  expressions  of  pious  dependence  on 
God?  There  was  an  habitual  reliance  on  God  which  must  have 
been  connected  with  habitual  prayer  to  God.  For  can  we  forbear 
to  institute  a  comparison  between  the  language  of  trust  in  Provi- 
dence, as  seen  in  the  letters  and  orders  of  Washington,  and  those 
of  Cromwell.  Who  for  a  moment  questions  the  sincerity  and  deep 
feeling  of  Washington  in  all  he  writes  ?  Who  does  not  sometimes 
suspect  at  least  the  hypocrisy  of  Cromwell  and  revolt  at  his  cant  ? 
Who  does  not  see  and  feel  that,  while  Washington  was  all  for  his 
country  and  his  God,  Cromwell  was  sometimes  seeking  his  own  ? 

On  one  other  subject  in  connection  with  the  religious  character 
of  Washington  I  must  ask  the  attention  of  the  reader.  Washington 
in  word  and  deed  condemned  duelling.  Nearly  all  our  great  men 
have  done  it  by  word,  but,  if  they  have  not  recommended  it  by  deed, 
have  been  afraid  to'say  that  they  might  not  so  do,  either  by  giving  or 
receiving  a  challenge.  When  a  young  man  in  Alexandria  and  an 
officer  in  the  army,  a  quarrel  ensued  on  an  election-day,  in  which 
he  used  strong  and  offensive  language  to  one  who,  with  a  stick, 
prostrated  him  to  the  ground.  On  the  following  day  he  sought 
an  interview  with  his  antagonist,  when  it  was  fully  expected  that 
another  rencounter  or  the  preliminaries  for  one  would  take  place. 
Instead  of  this,  Captain  Washington,  conscious  of  being  in  fault, 
declared  that  the  interview  was  sought  in  order  to  acknowledge  it. 
Here  was  true  greatness  of  soul.  Here  was  the  true  courage  of 
the  Christian,  breathed  into  the  soul  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  God  was 
training  up  the  spirit  of  Washington  for  all  the  subsequent  trials 
and  duties  of  life.  In  the  army  he  of  course  discouraged  and 
prevented  this  most  foolish  and  wicked  practice.  M.  Lafayette,  in 
a  chivalrous  spirit,  wished  to  revenge  some  supposed  insult  to  his 
country  on  an  Englishman  who  offered  it,  and  asked  leave  of  Wash' 
ington  to  send  a  challenge.  Washington  conducted  the  matter 
with  consummate  skill, — and,  while  fully  resolved  not  to  permit  it» 


254  OLD   CHXJBCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

chose  rather  by  a  grave  irony  to  laugh  him  out  of  it.  What  an 
example  was  thus  set  to  the  gentlemen  and  officers  and  public 
functionaries  of  America !  How  does  Washington  tower  above  those 
•who,  while  acknowledging  that  the  practice  is  indefensible  by  any 
laws  of  God  or  man,  and  utterly  opposed  to  them,  and  condemned  by 
common  sense  and  true  honour  and  humanity,  yet,  in  a  most  incon- 
sistent and  cowardly  manner  declare  that,  nevertheless,  such  is  their 
apprehension  of  public  opinion,  they  might  be  induced  to  engage 
in  this  murderous  act !  To  receive  a  blow,  be  felled  to  the  earth 
before  a  crowd,  and  then  ask  pardon  for  having  provoked  the  blow, 
must  surely  be  considered  in  a  young  officer  as  an  act  of  moral 
courage  which  is  prompted  by  the  Spirit  of  God. 

One  question  only  remains  to  be  settled : — Was  Washington  a 
communicant  of  the  Church?  That  he  was,  might  be  reasonably 
inferred  from  the  indication  of  youthful  piety,  Ms  religious,  his 
ministerial  offices  at  the  head  of  his  regiment,  the  active  part  taken 
in  the  concerns  of  the  parish,  his  habits  of  devotion,  his  regular 
attendance  at  church,  his  conscientious  observance  of  the  Sabbath, 
his  strict  fasting  on  appointed  days.  It  is  also  believed  that  he  was 
a  communicant,  from  the  testimony  of  the  Rev.  Lee  Massey,  as 
handed  down  through  his  family,  and  also  of  others  which  have  come 
down  to  us.  The  testimony  which  has  often  been  adduced  to  prove 
that,  during  the  war,  he  did  commune  on  a  certain  Sabbath  in  a 
Presbyterian  church  at  Morristown,  New  Jersey,  ought  to  be  enough 
to  satisfy  a  reasonable  man  of  the  fact.  Add  to  these  the  decla- 
ration of  so  many,  in  the  sermons  and  orations  at  the  time  of  his 
death.  But  still  it  has  been  made  a  question,  and  it  may  be  well 
to  consider  on  what  ground.  It  is  certainly  a  fact,  that  for  a  certain 
period  of  time  during  his  Presidential  term,  while  the  Congress  was 
held  in  Philadelphia,  he  did  not  commune.  This  fact  rests  on  the 
authority  of  Bishop  White,  under  whose  ministry  the  President  sat, 
and  who  was  on  the  most  intimate  terms  with  himself  and  Mrs. 
Washington.  I  will  relate  what  the  Bishop  told  myself  and  others 
in  relation  to  it.  During  the  session  or  sessions  of  Congress  held 
in  Philadelphia,  General  Washington  was,  with  his  family,  a  regular 
attendant  at  one  of  the  churches  under  the  care  of  Bishop  White 
and  his  assistants.  On  Communion-days,  when  the  congregation  was 
dismissed,  (except  the  portion  which  communed,)  the  General  left 
the  church,  until  a  certain  Sabbath  on  which  Dr.  Abercrombie, 
in  his  sermon,  spoke  of  the  impropriety  of  turning  our  backs  on  the 
Lord's  table, — that  is,  neglecting  to  commune, — from  which  time 
General  Washington  came  no  more  on  Communion-days.  Bishop 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  255 

White  supposes  that  the  General  understood  the  "words  turning  our 
backs  on  the  Lord's  table"  in  a  somewhat  different  sense  than  was 
designed  by  the  preacher ;  that  he  supposed  it  was  intended  to  censure 
those  who  left  the  church  at  the  time  of  its  administration,  and,  in 
order  not  to  seem  to  be  disrespectful  to  that  ordinance,  thought  it 
better  not  to  be  present  at  all  on  such  occasions.  It  is  needless  to 
attempt  to  conjecture  what  may  have  been  the  reason  of  this  tempo- 
rary (as  we  hope  it  was)  suspension  of  the  act  of  communicating. 
A  regard  for  historic  truth  has  led  to  the  mention  of  this  subject. 
The  question  as  to  his  ever  having  been  a  communicant  has  been 
raised  on  this  fact,  as  stated  by  Bishop  White,  and  we  have  thought 
it  best  to  give  the  narrative  as  we  heard  it  from  the  lips  of  the 
Bishop  himself.  It  has  been  asked  why  he  did  not,  in  the  dying 
hour,  send  for  some  minister  and  receive  the  emblems  of  a  Saviour's 
death.  The  same  might  be  asked  of  thousands  of  pious  communi- 
cants who  do  not  regard  the  sacrament  as  indispensable  to  a  happy 
death  and  glorious  eternity,  as  some  Romanists  do.  Moreover,  the 
short  and  painful  illness  of  Washington  would  have  forbidden  it. 
But  his  death  was  not  without  proofs  of  a  gracious  state.  He  told 
to  surrounding  friends  that  it  had  no  terrors  for  him, — that  all  was 
well.  The  Bible  was  on  his  bed:  he  closed  his  own  eyes,  and, 
folding  his  arms  over  his  breast,  expired  in  peace. 


256  OLD   CHUBCHES,    MINISTERS.  AJFB 


ARTICLE  LXIX. 

Fairfax  Parish^  Fairfax  County, 

THE  town  of  Alexandria  was  at  first  called  Hunting  Creek 
Warehouse,  sometimes  Bell  Haven,  and  consisted  of  a  small  esta- 
blishment at  that  place.  Its  growth  was  encouraged  by  successive 
Acts  of  the  Legislature,  establishing  semi-annual  fairs  and  granting 
certain  privileges  to  those  who  attended  them.  In  the  year  1762, 
it  was  enlarged  by  the  laying  off  of  numerous  lots  on  the  higher 
ground,  belonging  to  Bade,  West,  and  the  Alexanders,  after  which 
it  improved  rapidly,  so  that  at  the  close  of  the  last  or  beginning  of 
the  present  century  its  population  was  ten  thousand,  and  its  com- 
merce greater  than  it  now  is.  So  promising  was  it  at  the  close  of 
the  war,  that  its  claims  were  weighed  in  the  balance  with  those  of 
Washington  as  the  seat  of  the  National  Government.  It  is  thought 
that,  but  for  the  unwillingness  of  Washington  to  seem  partial  to 
Virginia,  Alexandria  would  have  been  the  chosen  spot,  and  that  on 
the  first  range  of  hills  overlooking  the  town  the  public  buildings 
would  have  been  erected.  Whether  there  had  been  any  public 
worship  or  church  at  Alexandria  previous  to  this  enlargement  of 
it,  and  the  great  impulse  thus  given  to  it,  does  not  appear  from 
the  vestry-book,  though  it  is  believed  that  there  was.  But  soon  after 
this,  in  the  year  1764,  Fairfax  parish  is  established,  and  measures 
taken  for  the  promotion  of  the  Church  in  this  place.  The  vestry- 
book  commences  in  1765.  At  that  time  there  were  two  churches 
in  the  new  parish  of  Fairfax, — one  at  the  Falls,  called,  as  the  pre- 
sent one  is,  Little  Falls  Church;  the  position  of  the  other — the 
Lower  Church — is  not  known.  It  may  have  been  an  old  one  at 
Alexandria. 

Among  the  first  acts  of  the  vestry  was  the  repairing  of  the  two 
old  churches  in  the  parish,  at  a  cost  of  more  than  thirty-two  thou- 
sand pounds  of  tobacco.  In  the  year  1766,  it  is  determined  to 
build  two  new  churches, — one  at  the  Little  Falls,  very  near  the  old 
one,  and  one  in  Alexandria,  to  contain  twenty-four  hundred  square 
feet,  and  to  be  high-pitched  so  as  to  admit  of  galleries.  Mr.  James 
Wrenn  agrees  to  build  the  former,  and  Mr.  James  Parsons  the  other, 
for  about  six  hundred  pounds  each.  A  most  particular  contract  is 


o 

sc 


O 

s 


z 

o 

l-» 

> 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA,  257 

made  for  them.  The  mortar  is  to  have  two-thirds  of  lime  and  one  of 
sand, — the  very  reverse  of  the  proportion  at  this  day,  and  wlncH  ac- 
counts for  the  greater  durability  of  ancient  walls.  The  shingles  were 
to  be  of  the  best  cypress  or  juniper,  and  three-quarters  of  an  inch  thick, 
instead  of  our  present  half-inch  ones.  Mr.  Parsons  was  allowed  to  add 
ten  feet  to  the  upper  part  of  the  church  on  his  own  account,  and  to  pay 
himself  by  their  sale,  on  certain  conditions.  He  commenced  his 
work,  but  was  unable  to  finish  it.  It  lingered  for  some  years,  until, 
in  1772,  Mr.  John  Carlisle  undertakes  it,  and  completes  it  in  1773. 
The  ten  pews  are  now  sold,  and  General  Washington,  though  having 
just  been  engaged  in  the  erection  of  Mount  Vernon  Church,  which 
was  finished  the  same  year,  and  having  a  pew  therein,  gives  the 
highest  price  for  one  in  Christ  Church,  which  was  occupied  by  him 
and  his  family  during  his  life,  and  has  been  by  some  of  his  name 
and  family  ever  since.  The  gallery  was  not  put  up  until  the  year 
1787,  at  which  time  the  pews  were  balloted  for.  The  steeple  is  of 
modern  construction.  A  gallery  never  was  erected  in  the  Little 
Falls  Church.  The  following  notice  of  my  visit  to  this  church  in 
1827  will  tell  something  of  its  history: — 

"The  exercises  of  the  Seminary  being  over,  I  next  directed  my  steps 
to  the  Falls  Church,  so  called  from  its  vicinity  to  one  of  the  falls  on  the 
Potomac  River.  It  is  about  eight  miles  from  Alexandria,  and  the  same 
from  Georgetown.  It  is  a  large  oblong  brick  building,  and,  like  that  near 
Mount  Vernon,  has  two  rows  of  windows,  being  doubtless  designed  for 
galleries  all  around,  though  none  were  ever  put  there.  It  was  deserted 
as  a  house  of  worship  by  Episcopalians  about  forty  years  ago.  About  that 
period,  for  the  first,  and  it  is  believed  for  the  last  time,  it  was  visited  by 
Bishop  Madison.  Since  then  it  has  been  used  by  any  who  were  disposed 
to  occupy  it  as  a  place  of  worship ;  and,  the  doors  and  windows  being  open, 
itself  standing  on  the  common  highway,  it  has  been  entered  at  pleasure 
by  travellers  on  the  road  and  animals  of  every  kind.  Some  years  since, 
the  attention  of  the  professors  of  our  Seminary,  and  of  some  of  the  students, 
was  drawn  toward  it,  and  occasional  services  performed  there.  This  led 
to  its  partial  repair.  The  most  successful  effort  in  its  behalf  was  made  by 
one  of  those  devoted  youths  who  has  given  himself  to  Africa.  Young  Mr. 
Minor,  of  Fredericksburg,  (then  a  student  at  the  Seminary,)  undertook  the 
task  of  lay  reader  in  this  place,  and  by  his  untiring  zeal  and  most  affection- 
ate manners  soon  collected  a  large  Sunday-school,  in  the  conduct  of  which 
he  was  aided  by  some  of  Ms  fellow-students  of  kindred  spirit.  In  losing 
Mr.  Minor  (when  he  went  to  Africa)  the  parents  and  children  thought 
they  had  lost  their  all;  but  Providence  raised  up  others,  and  doubtless  will 
continue  to  raise  up  as  many  as  are  needed.  Our  Seminary  will  surely 
tarnish  the  supply  that  is  called  for.  The  house  of  which  we  are  speak- 
ing has  recently  been  more  thoroughly  repaired,  and  is  now,  as  to  outward 
appearance,  strength,  and  comfort,  one  of  our  most  desirable  temples  of 
religion,  bidding  fair  to  survive  successive  generations  of  those  unworthy 
structures  which  are  continually  rising  up  and  falling  down  throughout 

Vox,,  ii.— IT 


258  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

our  land.  On  Saturday  and  Sunday,  assisted  by  several  of  our  ministers, 
I  performed  pastoral  and  episcopal  duties  in  this  church.  On  the  latter 
day,  in  the  midst  of  an  overflowing  congregation,  I  confirmed  six  persons 
and  administered  the  Holy  Communion.  On  the  evening  of  this  day,  I 
visited  an  interesting  school  of  young  ladies  at  Mr.  Henry  Fairfax's,  and 
sought  to  make  some  improvement  of  my  visit  by  addressing  a  discourse 
especially  to  the  young  ones." 

Mr.  Henry  Fairfax  was  the  grandson  of  the  Rev.  Bryan  Fairfax, 
of  whom  we  shall  soon  speak  as  the  minister  of  this  church.  He 
inherited  the  generous  and  disinterested  spirit  of  his  grandfather. 
It  was  chiefly  at  his  expense  that  the  church  was  repaired,  and  by 
his  liberality  the  minister  supported,  when  another  than  the  pro- 
fessors was  employed.  Being  a  graduate  of  West  Point,  he  felt 
that  he  owed  his  country  a  debt,  which  could  only  be  discharged  by 
engaging  in  the  late  Mexican  war,  and,  in  opposition  to  the  wishes 
and  judgment  of  his  friends  and  relatives,  raised  a  company  for  that 
purpose ;  but  scarcely  had  he  reached  the  scene  of  action  before  he 
fell  a  victim  to  the  climate,  leaving  a  devoted  family  and  congre- 
gation to  feel  and  mourn  his  loss. 

While  on  the  subject  of  churches,  it  may  be  as  well  to  mention 
that  at  a  more  recent  date  a  neat  frame  church  has  been  built  at 
Fairfax  Court-House,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Eev.  Mr.  Lock- 
wood,  who  for  some  years  officiated  there  as  well  as  at  the  Falls 
Church.  The  Eev.  Templeman  Brown  had  officiated  at  the  Falls 
Church  and  at  the  court-house  for  some  time  before  Mr.  Lockwood's 
ministry,  and  has  again  been  serving  them  for  a  number  of  years, 
since  Mr.  Lockwood's  relinquishment. 

We  proceed  now  to  such  notices  as  we  possess  of  the  ministers 
of  Fairfax  parish.  For  these  we-  are  indebted  to  the  vestry-records. 
The  Eev.  Townshend  Dade  was  ordained  for  this  parish  by  the  Bishop 
of  London  in  1765,  and  entered  upon  his  duties  in  the  following 
year  or  perhaps  sooner.  It  is  more  than  probable  that  he  was  the 
son  of  Mr.  Townshend  Dade,  who  appears  on  the  list  of  the  first 
vestry,  or  of  Mr.  Baldwin  Dade,  who  was  a  vestryman  at  a  later 
date,  and  owner  in  part  of  the  land  on  which  Alexandria  was  built. 
We  are  sorry  to  be  unable  to  make  a  favourable  report  of  the  Eev. 
Mr.  Dade.  In  the  year  1768,  the  vestry  discuss  the  question  of 
examining  into  some  alleged  misconduct  of  his,  and  decide  against 
it,  five  members  entering  their  dissent  from  the  decision.  In  the 
year  1777,  a  committee  is  appointed  to  wait  upon  him  to  know  why 
he  neglects  his  congregation.  Some  months  after,  the  committee  is 
enlarged  and  directed  to  take  further  steps.  The  result  was  his 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  259 

resignation  and  relinquishment  of  the  glebe  and  rectory.  In  the 
same  year  the  Rev.  Spence  Grayson  is  a  candidate  for  the  parish, 
but  the  Rev.  Mr.  West,  probably  from  Maryland,  is  preferred.  He 
continues  until  February  of  1779,  and  resigns.  The  Rev.  David 
Griffith,  then  chaplain  in  the  army,  and  formerly  minister  of  Shel- 
burne  parish,  and  well  known  to  the  people,  is  elected,  though  he 
does  not  appear  on  the  vestry-book  as  minister  until  October,  1780. 
He  continued  to  be  its  minister  until  his  death  in  1789.  Of  him 
we  shall  speak  more  fully  after  our  brief  notice  of  the  succession 
of  the  ministers  of  this  parish.  The  Rev.  Bryan  Fairfax  suc- 
ceeded him  in  1790.  He  was  ordained  deacon  in  1786  by 
Bishop  Seabury,  Mr.  Bryan  Fairfax  had  been  a  vestryman  of 
the  parish  and  delegate  to  the  Virginia  Conventions  for  some 
time  before  this.  Whether  it  was  that  his  health  was  delicate 
from  the  first,  or  whatever  was  the  cause,  he  wished  an  assistant 
in  the  parish,  and  the  vestry  passed  an  order  allowing  him  to 
invite  the  Rev.  Mason  Locke  Weems,  or  any  one  else  whom 
he  might  choose,  to  act  as  such.  Mr.  Fairfax  made  a  very 
different  selection,  and  called  the  Rev.  Bernard  Page,  giving 
to  him  all  the  emoluments  of  the  parish.  Mr.  Page  was  very  de- 
cidedly of  the  then  rising  evangelical  school  in  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, and  a  very  zealous  preacher  of  its  doctrines.  I  doubt  not  but 
that  Mr.  Fairfax  sympathized  with  the  principles  of  that  school.  In 
a  sermon  of  his  which  I  have  published,  he  sets  forth  the  doctrine 
of  salvation  by  grace  through  faith  in  Christ  in  such  a  way  as  was 
not  common  in  that  day.  In  the  year  1792,  he  resigns  his  charge 
in  a  letter  stating  his  reasons,  which  is  not  entered  on  the  record, 
though  the  most  flattering  letter  of  the  vestry,  regretting  their  loss 
of  him,  is.  I  am  not  aware  how  long  he  lived  after  this.  His  resi- 
dence during  the  latter  years  of  his  life  was  at  a  place  called  Mount 
Eagle,  a  short  distance  beyond  the  Hunting  Creek  Bridge.  He 
was  the  father  of  the  late  Ferdinando  Fairfax  and  Thomas  Fairfax, 
the  latter  of  whom  inherited  his  empty  title  of  Lord  Fairfax,  also 
of  the  late  Mrs.  Charles  Catlett,  by  a  second  marriage.  I  am  not 
aware  of  other  children,  though  there  may  have  been.  I  have,  in 
another  place,  stated  that  he  endeavoured  to  dissuade  his  friend 
and  neighbour,  General  Washington,  from  the  war  with  England 
The  General,  in  his  letter  to  him,  deals  most  gently  and  respectfully 
with  him.  He  was  the  son  of  his  old  friend  and  neighbour,  George 
William  Fairfax,  of  Belvoir,  and  the  brother  of  the  wife  of  Law- 
rence Washington,  elder  brother  of  the  General.  The  Rev.  Mr. 
Fairfax  acted  with  such  prudence,  if  he  did  not  see  cause  to  change 


260  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

his  sentiments,  as  not  to  forfeit  the  friendship  of  Washington  and 
of  the  patriots  in  Fairfax  parish,  hut  was,  as  we  have  seen,  chosen 
to  be  their  ministei  He  has  left  behind  him  many  worthy  adhe- 
rents to  our  Church,  though  some  few  have  varied  from  it.  At  the 
resignation  of  Mr.  Fairfax  the  Rev.  Thomas  Davis  was  chosen.  He 
continued  its  minister  until  1806,  when  he  removed  to  Hungar's 
parish,  on  the  Eastern  Shore,  where  he  died.  Mr.  Davis  had 
ministered  in  various  places  throughout  Virginia,  and,  though  a  man 
of  temperate  habits  and  correct  life  by  comparison  with  too  many 
of  our  clergy,  was  not  calculated  by  his  preaching  or  conversation 
to  promote  the  spiritual  welfare  of  any  people.  He  was  succeeded 
by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gibson,  of  Maryland.  Previous  to  his  removal  to 
Alexandria,  and  while  the  church  was  vacant,  the  vestry  invited 
the  Rev.  Mr.  McQuerr  a  Scotch  minister  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
who  was  then  principal  of  the  Washington  Academy  in  Alexandria, 
to  officiate  for  them.  With  the  character  and  habits  of  Mr.  McQuerr 
I  became  acquainted  through  my  old  teacher,  Mr.  Wiley,  who  was 
educated  at  that  school.  They  were  nothing  better  than  those  of 
many  of  the  old  Episcopal  clergy.  I  am  happy,  however,  to  say 
that  more  than  twenty  years  after  this,  on  one  of  my  journeys  to 
the  South,  I  heard  of  him  as  a  most  pious  and  exemplary  minister 
of  that  communion  in  the  State  of  Georgia,  a  zealous  advocate  of 
the  Temperance  and  Colonization  societies  and  of  every  good  work, 
and  highly  esteemed  by  all.  He  lived  to  a  great  age,  persevering 
to  the  last.  There  is  something  sad  in  the  history  of  the  Rev,  Mr. 
Gibson,  but  it  must  be  told  for  the  benefit  of  others.  He  began 
well,  pnMiched  zealously,  was  praised  and  flattered  to  his  undoing. 
He  gave  offence  to  some  by  a  rather  harsh  way  of  saying  true 
things.  This  was  complained  of,  and  perhaps  harsh  things  said  in 
return.  These  were  communicated  to  him  by  a  few  of  those  false 
friends  who  think  to  ingratiate  themselves  with  their  minister  by 
communicating  to  him  what  ought  to  be  concealed.  This  exasperated 
a  temper  naturally  excitable.  Under  the  influence  of  this,  he  sud- 
denly and  unexpectedly,  from  the  pulpit,  resigned  his  charge. 
The  vestry  were  divided  as  to  the  acceptance  of  it,  but  the  majority 
were  in  favour  of  it.  When  too  late  he  apologized,  and  wished  to 
retract*  Parties  were  formed,  and  the  result  was  another  congre- 
gation under  his  auspices.  But,  as  will  be  seen  when  I  come  to 
speak  of  that  congregation,  he  did  not  continue  long  with  it,  but 
returned  to  Maryland,  where,  after  a  short  time,  he  was  dismissed 
for  intemperance.  There  was  reason  to  fear  that  the  habit  had 
commenced  in  Alexandria,  under  the  too  popular  pretext  of  using 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  261 

ardent  spirits  privately  as  a  medicine.  He  afterward  united  with 
the  Methodist  Church  and  ministered  in  it.  Let  the  clergy  learn 
from  his  fate  to  beware  of  false  friends  who  inform  them  what  their 
enemies  say  of  them,  and  to  eschew  alcohol,  even  as  a  medicine, 
unless  prescribed  by  a  temperate  physician  and  as  a  mere  temporary 
expedient  imperiously  called  for. 

In  the  following  year,  1810,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Barclay,  who  came  to 
this  country  from  the  West  Indies,  was  chosen.  Bishop  Clagett, 
of  Maryland,  certified  to  his  character  for  the  last  six  years,  during 
which  he  had  been  ministering  in  Maryland ;  but  in  April  of  1811 
a  wife,  whom  he  had  deserted,  followed  him  from  the  West  Indies, 
and  he  resigned  his  charge  in  Alexandria  and  has  been  heard  of  no 
more  since. 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  writer  of  these  sad  notices,  having 
been  ordained  by  Bishop  Madison  in  the  spring  of  that  year,  at  the 
age  of  twenty-one,  was  induced  to  take  the  charge  of  Christ  Church 
in  October,  1811,  in  conjunction  with  his  charge  in  Frederick, 
visiting  the  latter  once  a  month.  For  some  account  of  his  ministry 
at  that  time  and  place  he  refers  to  the  second  article  in  this  series. 

At  the  close  of  that  brief  term  of  service,  extending  only  to 
eighteen  months,  the  Rev.  Oliver  Norris  took  charge  of  Christ 
Church.  Mr.  Norris  was  of  Quaker  descent,  but,  occasionally  at- 
tending the  services  of  St.  Peter's  Church,  Baltimore,  during  the 
ministry  of  Mr.  Dashiel,  first  became  convinced  of  sin,  then  of  his 
need  of  a  Saviour,  and  then  of  the  excellency  of  our  service  to 
build  up  a  convert  in  the  true  faith  and  practice  of  a  Christian. 
He  has  often  detailed  to  me  the  circumstances  of  his  conversion* 
He  first  ministered  at  Elk  Ridge  and  near  Bladensburg,  in  Mary- 
land, and  then  came  to  Virginia.  He  was  an  affectionate  pastor 
and  faithful  preacher  of  the  Gospel,  very  dear  to  his  people,  and 
esteemed  in  the  Church  of  Virginia.  Being  called  upon  to  preach 
his  funeral  sermon,  and  the  same  being  published  by  the  vestry,  I 
am  able  to  present  the  following  passage  on  one  trait  in  his  minis- 
terial character : — 

"  May  I  not,  fearless  of  contradiction,  ask  this  congregation  if  there  be 
one  among  them  who  has  not  experienced  many  evidences  of  his  pastoral 
fidelity  and  tenderness  ?  Who  has  ever  complained  of  neglect  there,  where 
a  people  are  so  apt  to  complain  ?  What  individual  so  poor  or  so  obscure 
but  has  received  a  full  share  of  his  pastoral  kindness?  Which  of  you,  rich 
or  poor,  did  he  ever  meet,  but  affection  beamed  from  his  eye  and  spoke 
from  his  lips,  and  was  felt  in  the  warm  pressure  of  his  affectionate  hand  ? 
Which  of  you  ever  left  (though  but  for  a  season)  his  pastoral  care,  but  he 
was  with  you  to  bid  a  kind  farewell  and  commend  you  to  the  care  of  Heaven, 


262  OLD   CEUECHES^  MINISTERS,   AND 

and  when  you  returned  was  he  not  tie  first  to  meet  and  welcome  you  back 
again  ?  Which  of  you  was  ever  sick,  "but  he  was  soon  at  your  side,  ready 
to  comfort  you,  pray  with  you,  entreat  you  to  take  it  in  good  part  as  the  dis- 
pensation of  God,  and,  if  there  was  need,  to  be  your  tender  nurse?  Which 
of  you  was  ever  in  any  distress  of  soul,  body,  or  estate,  but  he  was  the  first 
to  condole  with  you  and  endeavour  to  make  some  spiritual  improvement 
of  your  affliction  ?  Which  of  his  people  departing  this  life,  but  he  was 
with  them,  exhorting  to  due  preparation,  and  strengthening  them  for  the 
conflict  with  the  last  enemy  and  great  adversary  ?  Once  more,  let  me  ask 
which  of  your  dear  little  children,  tut  has  received  his  kind  attentions, 
heard  from  his  lips  some  words  of  counsel  suited  to  their  age,  and  which 
should  be  remembered  and  treasured  ap  in  their  hearts  ?" 

After  the  death  of  Mr.  Norris,  in  the  summer  of  1825,  efforts 
were  made  to  obtain  the  services  of  the  Rev.  John  Johns,  then  in 
Fredericktown,  Maryland,  and  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cobbs,  of  Bedford 
county,  Virginia,  and  on.  the  faikre  of  these  applications  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Keith  was  induced  to  add  tie  duties  of  a  pastor  and  preacher 
to  those  of  professor.  He  continued  this,  with  some  interruption, 
for  the  greater  part  of  three  years,  when  the  Rev.  Greo.  Griswold, 
son  of  Bishop  Grriswold,  became  pastor  in  1828.  On  account  of  ill 
health  he  resigned  the  following  year,  to  the  deep  regret  of  the 
congregation.  The  Rev.  J.  P,  Mctruire  followed  for  one  year,  and> 
unable  through  weakness  of  his  eyes  to  make  the  necessary  prepa- 
ration for  the  pulpit,  resigned  the  charge.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Mann 
succeeded,  and,  after  continuing  for  three  years,  accepted  an 
agency  for  the  Seminary.  The  BeT.  Mr,  Dana,  its  present  minister, 
then  took  charge  of  the  clurck. 

THE    EBT.  DAVID   GRIFFITH, 

Concerning  the  Rev.  David  G-riffith  we  have  something  more 
particular  to  record.  Se  was  loin  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and 
educated,  partly  in  that  place  and  partly  in  England,  for  the  me- 
dical profession.  After  taiiag  kis  degree  in  London,  he  returned 
to  America  and  entered  on  his  profession  in  the  interior  of  New 
York  about  the  year  1763.  Determined  to  enter  the  ministry  of 
the  Episcopal  Church,  he  went  to  London  in  the  year  1770,  and 
was  ordained  by  Bishop  Terrick,  August  the  19th  of  that  year,  and 
returned  as  missionary  to  Crloucester  county,  New  Jersey.  He 
could  not  have  continued  there  long;  for,  in  the  close  of  the  next 
year,  he  accepts  the  charge  of  Slelburne  parish,  Loudoun  county, 
Virginia.  Governor  Jolmson,  of  New  York,  was  very  anxious  to 
obtain  his  services  in  that  State,  where  he  was  regarded  as  a  "  man 
of  uncommon  merit."  The  (Jovermor  of  Virginia,  also, — either  from 
personal  knowledge  or  report, — recommends  him  very  highly  to 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  263 

Shelburne  parish.  He  continued  in  it  until  May,  1776,  when — 
being  an  American  not  only  by  birth  but  in  heart — he  entered  the 
service  as  chaplain  to  the  3d  Virginia  Kegiment.  In  this  service 
he  continued  until  some  time  in  the  year  1780.  He  appears  as  the 
minister  of  Christ  Church,  Alexandria,  during  that  year, — though 
he  was  elected  the  previous  year.  He  is  represented  as  a  man  of 
good  size  and  fine  appearance  and  pleasing  manners,  and  as 
enjoying  the  confidence  of  General  Washington  and  the  army. 
Tradition  says  that,  on  the  night  before  the  battle  of  Monmouth, 
he  sought  an  interview  with  General  Washington,  and,  in  the  pre- 
sence of  his  aids,  bade  him  beware  of  General  Charles  Lee,  though 
he  was  not  at  liberty  to  give  his  reasons  or  authority.  When  Lee 
unnecessarily  and  ingloriously  retreated  on  the  field  of  Monmouth, 
and  almost  lost  America  the  battle,  there  were  those  who  believed 
that  he  wished  only  to  diminish  the  reputation  of  Washington  and 
receive  the  supreme  command  to  himself.  We  only  give  this  as 
tradition.  Prom  the  year  1780  to  his  death,  in  1789,  Mr.  Griffith 
was  the  much-esteemed  pastor  of  Christ  Church,  Alexandria,  and 
that  called  Little  Falls,  higher  up  on  the  Potomac.  During  the 
greater  part  of  this  time  General  Washington  was  his  parishioner — 
having  a  pew  in  Christ  Church — and  Mr.  Griffith  was  a  welcome 
visitor  at  Mount  Vernon.  Mr.  Griffith  was  not  merely  attentive  to 
his  duty  as  a  parish  minister,  but,  in  the  dark  and  distressing  days 
of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  Virginia  and  in  the  other  States,  took 
a  deep  interest  in  the  measures  proposed  for  her  welfare.  When 
a  number  of  the  clergy  from  the  Northern  States  met — of  their  own 
motion,  in  New  York,  in  October,  1784 — to  consult  about  those 
measures,  Mr.  Griffith  appeared  of  his  own  accord  from  Virginia. 
But  before  that  time,  I  have  letters  to  and  from  him,  showing  that 
he  was  earnestly  engaged  in  correspondence,  both  North  and  South, 
with  a  view  to  promoting  both  State  and  General  Conventions,  as 
the  instruments  of  saving  the  Church  from  ruin.  The  following 
letters  which  passed  between  himself  and  Dr.  Buchanon  of  Rich- 
mond will  show  how  deplorable  was  the  condition  of  things  in  Vir- 
ginia at  this  time,  and  also  establish  the  fact  that  Dr.  Griffith  was 
the  first  mover  of  the  proposition  to  have  a  Convention  in  Virginia 
after  the  war.  I  have  also  a  letter  in  August,  1784,  from  the  Kev. 
"Mr.  West,  dated  from  Baltimore,  in  which  he  delivers  a  message 
from  Dr.  Smith,  of  Philadelphia,  to  Mr.  Griffith,  showing  his  esti- 
mate of  the  latter  in  relation  to  this  movement.  It  is  probable  that 
this  Mr.  West  was  the  same  who  preceded  Mr.  Griffith  in  Alexau- 
dria,  as  he  speaks  of  being  there. 


264  OLD   CHURCHES,  MINISTERS,  AND 

The  following  letter  of  Dr.  Griffith  to  Dr.  Buchanon,  of  Rich 
mond,  must  have  been  written  in  the  fall  of  1783,  before  any  meet 
ing  of  Episcopalians,  in  any  part  of  the  land,  had  occurred  with  a 
similar  object.  Dr.  Buchanon's  reply  was  not  until  the  February 
following,  except  so  far  as  a  verbal  message  went : — 

tc  DEAR  SIR  : — You  may  recollect  the  conversation  we  had  when  I  had 
the  pleasure  of  seeing  you  at  Richmond;  that  we  mutually  lamented  the 
declining  state  of  the  Church  of  England  in  this  country,  and  the  pitiable 
situation  of  her  clergy, — especially  those  whose  circumstances  are  not 
sufficiently  independent  to  place  them  beyond  the  reach  of  want.  I  am 
satisfied  our  Church  has  yet  a  very  great  number  of  powerful  friends  who 
are  disposed  to  give  it  encouragement  and  support,  and  who  wish  to  see 
some  plan  in  agitation  for  effecting  a  business  so  important,  and  at  this 
time  so  very  necessary.  It  is  (and  very  justly)  matter  of  astonishment  to 
many,  that  those  whose  more  immediate  duty  it  is  to  look  to  the  concerns 
of  their  religious  society  should  show  so  much  indifference  and  indolence 
as  the  Church  and  clergy  do,  while  the  leaders  of  almost  every  other  de 
nomination  are  labouring  with  the  greatest  assiduity  to  increase  their  in- 
fluence, and,  by  open  attacks  and  subtle  machinations,  endeavouring  to 
lessen  that  of  every  other  society, — particularly  the  Church  to  which  you 
and  I  have  the  honour  to  belong,  in  whose  destruction  they  all  (Quakers 
and  Methodists  eseepted)  seem  to  agree  perfectly,  however  they  may  differ 
in  other  points.  Against  these  it  behooves  us  to  be  cautious  But,  unless 
the  clergy  act  conjointly  and  agreeably  to  some  well-regulated  plan,  the 
ruin  of  our  Church  is  inevitable  without  the  malevolence  of  her  enemies. 
Considering  her  present  situation  and  circumstances, — without  ordination, 
without  government,  without  support,  unprotected  by  the  laws,  and  yet 
labouring  under  injurious  restrictions  from  laws  which  yet  exist, — these 
things  considered,  her  destruction  is  sure  as  fate,  unless  some  mode  is 
adopted  for  her  preservation.  Her  friends,  by  suffering  her  to  continue  in 
her  present  state  of  embarrassment,  as  effectually  work  her  destruction  as 
her  avowed  enemies  could  do  by  their  most  successful  contrivances. 

"  In  the  late  contest  for  a  stake  of  the  last  importance  to  this  country,  it 
would  have  been  imprudent  to  enter  on  a  regulation  of  ecclesiastical  affairs, 
or  to  attempt  any  thing  that  might  interrupt  that  union  which  was  so 
necessary  for  our  mutual  security  and  preservation.  But  that  time,  God 
be  thanked,  is  happily  over,  and  those  reasons  no  longer  exist.  It  seems 
to  be  high  time  for  those  whom  it  concerns  to  be  engaged  in  the  important 
business  of  regulating  the  affairs  of  the  Church.  I  have  been  for  some 
time  in  the  hope  that  some  of  my  brethren  near  the  seat  of  government 
would  have  set  on  foot  this  necessary  business ;  and  my  reason  for  address- 
ing you  at  this  time  is  to  be  informed  whether  any  thing  of  the  kind 
is  begun  or  intended, — the  time  when,  the  place  where,  and  manner 
how. — and,  if  nothing  of  the  kind  should  be  yet  determined  upon,  to 
request  of  you,  as  your  situation  renders  it  noway  inconvenient,  to  un- 
dertake to  promote  a  Convention  of  the  clergy  for  that  purpose.  I  shall 
also  presume  to  offer  my  advice.  In  order  that  the  measures  agreed  on 
may  be  generally  acceptable  to  the  clergy  and  no  objection  remain  to  im- 
pede their  future  execution,  it  will  be  necessary  to  have  as  numerous  a 
meeting  as  possible,  I  would  recommend  to  have  the  clergy  summoned  to 
this  Convention  both  by  public  notice  and  private  information ;  for,  as 


FAMILIES   OP   VIRGINIA.  265 

the  Virginia  newspapers  seldom  come  inj  o  this  and  several  other  quarters, 
perhaps  the  end  would  be  best  answered  by  sending  printed  circular  letters 
co  all  quarters  of  the  State :  if  circular  letters  were  not  sent,  many  of  the 
clergy  might  not  have  timely  notice.  I  would  recommend  this  Convention 
to  be  called  on  the  authority  of  the  few  clergy  contiguous  to  the  seat  of 
government, — the  notices  to  be  signed  by  the  whole  of  them,  or  one  as 
chairman.  I  would  advise  the  notices  to  be  couched  in  general  terms,  to 
avoid,  as  much  as  possible,  assigning  reasons  for  it,  especially  such  as  may 
alarm  the  Dissenters  and  rouse  them  into  opposition.  The  time  for  send- 
ing and  publishing  these  notices  should  be  near  three  months  before  the 
intended  Convention,  that  the  clergy  might  with  certainty  be  informed  of  it 
and  be  prepared  to  leave  their  homes.  As  Richmond  is  near  the  centre  of 
the  State,  I  think  it  is  the  properest  place  to  hold  the  Convention  at.  The 
time  for  holding  the  Convention  I  would  recommend  to  be  about  the  20th 
of  April  next.  It  will  be  impossible  to  have  any  thing  like  a  full  meeting 
in  the  winter  season ;  and,  about  the  season  I  have  mentioned,  the  weather 
is  generally  fine  for  travelling  and  the  roads  settled.  Besides,  our  plans 
should  be  agreed  upon  previous  to  the  session  of  Assembly,  as  we  must 
necessarily  have  recourse  to  it  for  the  repeal  of  those  existing  laws  which 
made  a  part  of  the  old  Establishment,  and  which,  while  they  do  exist,  must 
prove  ruinous  to  the  Church  in  spite  of  any  regulations  the  clergy  may 
adopt.  I  have  not  the  pleasure  of  knowing  Mr.  Blagrove,  chaplain  to  the 
House  of  Assembly,  but  I  think  his  name,  or  yours,  or  both,  would  not 
appear  improperly  at  the  bottom  of  the  notices,  or  any  thing  that  will  answer 
the  purpose.  If  the  above  proposal  should  be  adopted,  I  shall  be  much 
obliged  to  you  for  informing  me  of  it  as  soon  as  it  is  determined  on. 
Please  direct  to  me  at  Alexandria,  either  by  post  or  some  private  hand. 
If  a  meeting  is  likely  to  take  place,  it  would  not  perhaps  be  amiss  if  your- 
self and  our  brethren  in  your  neighbourhood  were  to  digest  some  plan  for 
the  consideration  of  the  Convention.  If  it  was  well  considered  by  sensible 
men  what  regulations  were  wanting  and  what  reform  necessary,  it  would 
save  abundance  of  time.  If  I  have  timely  notice,  I  will  cheerfully  devote 
all  the  spare  time  I  have  to  this  service.  And  if  the  Convention  is  re- 
solved on,  I  will  engage  to  send  the  notices  to  all  the  clergy  in  the  Northern 
Neck  above  "Falmouth,  if  the  copies  or  a  form  are  sent  me  in  time.  You 
may  remember  that  when  I  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you  I  expressed  a 
wish  that  a  coalition  might  take  place  between  us  and  the  Dissenters :  it 
is  still  my  most  earnest  wish,  but  I  am  now  satisfied  it  is  a  vain  one  :  and 
I  think  our  Church  has  no  chance  of  preserving  any  of  its  ancient  and  ex- 
cellent forms  of  worship,  but  from  the  united  zeal  and  efforts  of  her  clergy. 
I  think  it  is  this  alone  that  can  preserve  her  very  existence.  I  am,  &c. 

"  DAVID  GRIFFITH." 

The  following  is  Dr.  Buchanon's  answer; — 

"DEAR  SIR: — I  received  your  letter,  favoured  by  Mr.  Fairfax,  which 
reminded  me  of  a  conversation  which  passed  between  us  respecting  the 
low  state  of  the  Church  whereof  we  are  members,  and  in  which  you  make 
inquiry  whether  any  thing  has  been  attempted  by  any  of  its  clergy  to  raise 
it  from  its  distressed  situation,  and  inform  me  that  reflections  have  been 
thrown  out  against  them  for  their  remissness  and  want  of  zeal  in  an  affair 
of  so  much  consequence.  In  order  to  remedy  these  evils,  you  propose 
a  plan  for  convening  the  clergy  in  the  montr.  of  April  next,  to  the  end 


2t>6  OLD  CHURCHES,   MIN ISTBRS,  AND 

that  some  form  of  ecclesiastical  government  might  be  established,  par 
ticularly  a  mode  of  ordination ;  and  that  an  application  might  be  made  to 
the  Assembly  for  redress  of  grievances  and  a  legal  support. 

"  As  I  had  nothing  of  consequence  to  write  you  by  Mr.  Fairfax,  I  desired 
him  verbally  to  acquaint  you  that  your  brethren  in  this  neighbourhood 
had  done  nothing  to  forward  the  re-establishment  of  our  Church ;  indeed, 
they. seemed  to  despair  of  any  thing  being  done  effectually  without  its 
originating  in  the  Assembly.  I  showed  them  your  letter :  they  approved 
highly  of  your  zeal,  but  were  by  no  means  sanguine  in  the  result  of  a 
convocation.  It  was  agreed  among  us  that  we  should  meet  on  some  day 
most  convenient  for  Mr.  Leigh,  who  lived  the  greatest  distance  from  this 
city,*  to  take  into  further  consideration  the  subject  of  your  letter.  Thus 
matters  stood  until  the  29th  of  December,  when  Mr.  Selden  received  a 
letter  from  the  above  gentleman, — a  copy  whereof  is  herein  enclosed  that 
you  may  have  a  full  view  of  the  argument  he  offers  against  your  plan  of  a 
convocation.  For  my  own  part,  before  I  was  favoured  with  your  ideas  I 
was  firmly  of  opinion  that  the  reformation  should  first  take  place  in  the 
Legislature; — that,  if  they  thought  public  religion  essential  not  only  to  the 
good  order  but  to  the  very  existence  of  government,  it  behooved  them  to 
make  a  legal  provision  for  its  teachers,  and  to  raise  them  from  that  state 
of  indigence  and  dependence  which,  I  will  not  scruple  to  say,  they  them- 
selves were  the  cause  of;  otherwise  they  cannot  reasonably  expect  that 
religion  will  flourish  in  a  country  where  its  ministers  are  reduced  to  a 
state  of  beggary  and  contempt.  I  remember,  in  a  conversation  at  Wilton,f 
on  this  very  subject,  a  Mr.  Douglass,  lately  from  England,  expressed  his 
surprise  that  the  clergy  of  our  Church  had  never  presented  a  memorial  to 
the  House  respecting  the  state  of  religion;  in  which  he  was  joined  by  the 
Speaker  of  the  Senate.  I  gave  my  opinion  as  above,  and  further  added, 
that  such  an  application  would  give  the  alarm  to  the  Sectaries,  who  would, 
no  doubt,  throw  every  obstruction  in  the  way,  if  not  render  totally  abor- 
tive every  measure  we  should  adopt.  The  present  Governor  thought  my 
argument  had  weight,  and  said  that  it  was  a  reproach  on  Government  that 
they  had  done  nothing  in  support  of  religion.  I  am  apt  to  think  that  some 
who  are  no  well-wishers  to  our  persuasion  had  got  intelligence  of  our  de- 
sign; for,  soon  after  Mr.  Fairfax's  appearance  here,  some  scurrilous  pub- 
lications appeared  in  the  papers  concerning  the  importation  of  clergy 
at  forty  or  fifty  pounds  a  head,  according  to  certain  qualifications  specified, 
and  other  stuff  to  that  purpose.  I  am  told  that  a  petition  was  last  session 
preferred  to  the  House,  representing  the  fatal  decline  of  religion,  and  of 
consequence  the  great  depravity  of  morals  resulting  from  it,  and  praying 
that  the  House  would  take  into  their  most  serious  consideration  a  subject 
of  so  much  importance.  Some  were  for  putting  it  off  Ho  a  more  convenient 
season/  but  Mr.  Henry  thought  it  of  too  much  moment  to  be  deferred  to 
another  session.  Notwithstanding  this,  the  matter  was  dropped,  and  when 
it  will  be  resumed  I  know  not.  At  the  beginning  of  the  session,  you 
would  think  that  most  of  the  House,  from  their  speeches  without-doors, 
were  for  doing  something  effectual;  but  they  no  sooner  get  involved  in 
secular  matters,  than  the  idea  of  religion  is  obliterated  from  their  minds. 

"You  observe  Mr.  Leigh  expresses  a  willingness  to  meet  us  at  any  a] 
pointed  time,  to  put  into  execution  the  plan  you  propose,  or,  if  we  thi: 

*  The  Kev.  William  Leigh,  of  Chesterfield, 
f  A  se&t  of  tlm  Randolphs,  near  Richmond. 


FAMILIES   01    VIRGINIA.  267 

proper,  he  allows  us  to  put  his  name  down  to   any  notification  to  our 
brethren. 

u  As  we  have  been  so  long  undetermined,  nothing,  I  think,  can  be  done 
this  winter.  Should  business,  or  your  inclinations,  lead  you  to  this  city  in 
April,  pray  send  me  previous  notice  of  it,  that  I  may  inform  some  of  the 
gentlemen  in  this  neighbourhood.  Your  presence  may  rouse  us  from  otu 
lethargy;  and  for  my  own  part,  if  you  should  think  a  memorial  to  the 
House  expedient,  I  will  give  it  my  hearty  concurrence,  or  any  other  plan 
you  may  adopt. 

"I  am,  dear  sir,  with  real  esteem 

"  Your  most  obedient  servant, 

"  JOHN  BUCHANON 
"RICHMOND,  February  2, 1784." 

Nothing  could  better  exhibit  the  true  condition  of  things  in  Vir- 
ginia than  this  correspondence.  Dr.  Buchanon  acknowledges  that 
the  clergy  had  brought  this  ruin  upon  themselves  by  their  own  mis- 
conduct. Guilt-stricken,  they  were  afraid  and  ashamed  to  come 
forward  boldly  and  call  upon  the  Legislature  to  do  something  for 
the  cause  of  religion  and  morals,  which  were  both  declining.  It  never 
seemed  to  enter  into  the  thoughts  of  some,  as  a  possibility,  to  do 
any  thing  on  the  voluntary  principle,  independent  of  the  State,  so 
accustomed  were  they  to  the  old  English  system.  Whether  any 
such  meeting  as  that  proposed  by  Dr.  Griffith  ever  took  place,  I 
have  not  the  means  of  ascertaining.  In  the  winter  of  1785,  the 
Legislature  incorporated  the  Episcopal  Church,  tendering  the  same 
privilege  to  others,  and  in  the  preamble  states  that  it  was  done  at 
the  petition  of  the  Episcopal  clergy.  How  many  united  in  it,  and 
whether  it  was  done  at  a  general  meeting  called  for  the  purpose, 
I  know  not.  In  May  of  that  year,  1785,  the  first  Convention  of 
clerical  and  lay  deputies  met  in  Richmond,  under  the  Act  of  incor 
poration.  Mr.  Griffith,  being  there,  TOS  appointed  a  delegate  to 
the  General  Convention  in  Philadelphia  that  fall.  The  second  Vir- 
ginia Convention  was  held  in  May,  1786,  when  the  Rev.  Dr.  Griffith 
was  chosen  Bishop,  by  a  vote  of  thirty-two  members.  Dr.  Bracken 
received  ten,  and  Mr.  Samuel  Shield  seven.  An  assessment  was 
made  upon  the  parishes  for  funds  to  bear  the  expenses  of  his  visit 
to  England  for  consecration;  but  such  was  the  depressed  condition 
of  the  Church,  that  a  sufficiency  was  Dot  raised,  either  in  that  year 
or  the  two  succeeding  on^s.  In  May,  1789,  Mr.  Griffith  resigned 
his  claim  upon  the  office,  and  in  the  summer  of  that  year  died  at 
the  house  of  Bishop  White,  while  attending  the  General  Convention. 
At  the  following  Convention,  the  Rev.  James  Madison  was  chosen 
Bishop  by  a  vote  of  forty-five, — the  Rev.  Samuel  Shield  having 
nine.  To  the  shame  of  the  Church  of  Virginia,  in  that  day  he  it 


2(38  OLD   CHUBCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

said,  sufficient  funds  were  not  raised  for  Bishop  Madison's  conse- 
cration. A  part  "was  drawn  from  his  private  resources,  and  that 
worthy  man,  Graham  Franks,  of  London,  of  whom  we  have  before 
spoken  as  the  warm  friend  of  the  Church  of  Virginia,  and  whose 
wife  lies  buried  in  old  York  graveyard,  contributed  five  guineas 
toward  it. 

List  of  the  Vestrymen. 

John  West,  Wm.  Payne,  Jr.,  Win.  Adams,  John  Dalton,  Thomas  Wren, 
Edward  Duling,  Daniel  French,  Thomas  Shaw,  Townshend  Dade,  Eichard 
Sanford,  Charles  Broadwater,  Edward  Blackburn,  James  Wren,  Henry 
Gunnel,  John  West,  Jr.,  Eichard  Con  way,  Henry  Darne,  John  Hunter, 
Charles  Alexander,  Presley  Cox,  ^  m.  Chapman,  Townshend  Hooe,  Wm. 
Herbert,  Thomas  Triplett,  George  Gilpin,  Wm.  Browne,  Bryau  Fairfax, 
Kobert  Powell,  Wm.  Syles,  David  Stewart,  John  Courts,  Wm,  Hunter, 
Eoger  West,  John  Jackson,  Benjamin  Harris,  Lewis  Hipkins,  George 
Gilpin,  Nicholas  Fitzhugh,  Eobert  T.  Hooe,  Baldwin  Dade,  Philip  E. 
Fendall,  James  P.  Nicholls,  Ludwell  Lee,  Wm.  Fitzhugh,  George  Taylor, 
John  Roberts,  George  Deneale,  Daniel  McClean,  H.  Smoot,  John  Tinker, 
Edmund  I.  Lee,  Charles  Simms,  Charles  Alexander,  Jr.,  John  Tucker, 
James  Kieth,  Wm.  S.  Moore,  Cuthbert  Powell,  John  Muncaster,  Jonah 
Thompson,  Thomas  Swann,  Tristam  Dalton,  Augustin  J.  Smith,  William 
Hodgson,  Anthony  Crease,  Eichard  M.  Scott,  Francis  Adams,  Wm,  H. 
Fitzhugh,  James  Kieth,  Jr.,  James  H.  Hooe,  Craven  Thompson,  Thomas 
Semmes,  Horatio  Clagget,  Noblet  Herbert,  Newton  Keene,  John  Eoberts, 
Bernard  Hooe,  Wm.  Herbert,  Peyton  Thompson,  John  Lloyd,  J.  J.  Fro- 
bell,  Win.  Fowle,  J.  A.  Washington,  James  Atkinson,  J.  H.  Crease,  W. 
C.  Page,  Edward  Latham,  E.  H.  Claggett,  W.  F.  Alexander,  Daniel 
Minor,  George  Johnson,  Guy  Atkinson,  Cassius  F.  Lee,  Solomon  Masters, 
Wm.  Morgan,  Eichard  C.  Mason,  George  Fletcher,  James  Irwin,  J.  Grubb, 
General  John  Mason. 

The  following  names,  not  in  the  old  vestry-book,  have  been  fur- 
nished me: — 

Louis  A.  Cazenove,  William  W.  Hoxton,  William  L.  Powell,  Edgar 
Snowden,  Edward  C.  Fletcher,  William  G.  Cazenove,  Henry  C.  Keale, 
John  J.  Lloyd,  Eeuben  Johnston,  Charles  H,  Lee,  William  0.  Teaton, 
Eichard  C.  Smith,  Thomas  C.  Atkinson,  Lawrence  B.  Taylor,  Henry  W. 
Yaudegrift,  John  Crockford,  Douglass  E.  Semmes. 

Concerning  two  of  the  above-mentioned  vestrymen  I  may  be 
permitted  to  say  a  few  words.  Mr.  George  Taylor  and  Edmund 
L  Lee  were  churchwardens  when  I  took  charge  of  Christ  Church 
in  1811,  and  so  continued  until  the  removal  of  one  by  a  change  of 
residence,  and  the  other  by  death,  after  a  long  term  of  service. 
They  were  both  of  them  members  of  the  Standing  Committee  during 
the  same  period.  I  think  I  knew  them  well,  and  knew  them  to  be 
sincere  Christians,  and  useful,  punctual  business-men  Mr.  Tnylor, 


FAMILIES    OF    VIRGINIA. 

i  think,  nearly  reached  his  century  of  years,  his  step  still  elastic 
and  form  erect  and  countenance  fine  and  temper  unruffled, — walk- 
ing between  Washington  and  Alexandria  without  weariness  almost 
to  the  last,  and  lifting  up  a  distinct  voice  in  the  utterance  of  those 
prayers  in  which  he  delighted, — dying,  as  he  had  lived,  in  the  faith 
of  the  Gospel.  Mr.  Lee  generally  attended  on  State  Conventions, 
and  sometimes  the  General  Convention.  He  was  a  man  of  great 
decision  and  perseverance  in  what  he  deemed  right, — obstinate,  some 
of  us  thought,  even  to  a  fault,  when  we  differed  from  him.  There 
was  no  compromise  at  all  in  him,  with  any  thing  which  he  thought 
wrong.  He  was  as  fearless  as  Julius  Caesar.  On  a  certain  Sab- 
bath, while  I  was  performing  service  in  Christ  Church,  a  certain 
person  in  the  gallery  disturbed  myself  and  the  congregation  by 
undue  vociferation  in  the  responses,  and  also  at  the  opening  of  the 
sermon.  I  paused,  and  requested  him  to  desist,  and  was  proceed- 
ing, but  Mr.  Lee,  who  was  near  him,  arose  and  asked  me  to  suspend 
the  sermon.  Walking  toward  the  offender,  he  told  him  that  he 
must  leave  the  house.  As  he  approached  to  enforce  it,  the  person 
raised  a  loaded  whip  and  struck  at  him.  Mr.  Lee,  nothing  moved, 
took  him  by  the  arms  and  led  him  out  of  the  house,  and  deposited 
him  in  the  town  jail.  When  mayor  of  the  town,  he  was  a  terror  to 
evil-doers.  Ascertaining  that  there  was  much  gambling  going  on 
among  the  gentlemen  of  the  place,  and  some  of  the  principal  ones, 
he  took  effective  measures  for  their  discovery,  brought  between 
thirty  and  forty  before  the  court,  and  had  them  fined.  The  prose- 
cuting attorney  was  his  particular  friend,  and  was  slightly  impli- 
cated in  the  evil  practice;  but  he  did  not  spare  him.  Nor  did  he 
wish  to  be  spared,  but,  coming  forward  and  paying  his  fine,  then 
did  his  duty  with  all  the  rest.  Mr.  Lee  was  of  course  not  a  popular 
man,  nor  did'he  seek  or  care  to  be,  but  did  his  duty  entirely  re- 
gardless of  all  others.  He  kept  our  Conventions  in  good  order,  by 
always  insisting  upon  the  observance  of  rules  of  which  the  clergy 
are  not  always  mindful.  He  was  the  great  advocate  of  our  Bishops' 
fund,  and  defended  it  from  all  invasions.  I  not  only  knew  Mr. 
Lee  from  my  youth  up,  but  I  saw  him  in  his  last  moments,  and 
heard  him  with  the  truest  humility  speak  of  himself  as  a  poor  sin- 
ner, whose  only  hope  was  in  Christ.  And  can  I  speak  of  him 
without  remembering  that  meek  and  holy  woman  to  whom  he  was 
so  long  a  most  affectionate  husband  ?  She  was  the  daughter  of  that 
Christian  patriot,  Richard  Henry  Lee.  For  more  than  thirty 
years  she  was  gradually  dying  of  consumption,  and  yet  in  such  a 
way  as  to  admit  of  the  exhibition  of  all  her  Christian  graces  in 


270 


OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 


the  various  relations  of  life.     By  universal  consent,  she  was  one  of 
the  purest  specimens  of  humanity  sanctified  by  the  grace  of  God. 

P.S. — It  was  in  this  parish  that  the  question  of  the  right  of  the 
Dhurch  to  the  glebes,  which  had  been  determined  against  the  Church 
in  the  Virginia  courts,  was  reconsidered.  Being  brought  before 
the  Supreme  Court,  the  former  decision  was  reversed,  so  far 
as  the  glebe  in  Fairfax  parish  was  concerned.  The  opinion  of  the 
court,  which  was  drawn  up  by  Judge  Story,  of  Massachusetts,  may 
be  seen  in  the  Appendix. 

From  Sparks's  Life  of  Washington. 

•<  After  the  French  War,  while  in  retirement  at  Mount  Vernon,  Wash- 
ington took  a  lively  interest  in  Church  affairs,  regularly  attending  public 
worship,  and  being  at  different  times  a  vestryman  in  two  parishes. 

.  "  The  following  list  of  votes  for  vestrymen  in  Fairfax  parish  and  Truro 
parish  is  copied  from  a  paper  in  Washington's  handwriting,  and  shows 
that  he  was  chosen  a  vestryman  in  each  of  those  parishes.  How  long  he 
continued  in  that  station,  I  have  no  means  of  determining.  The  place 
of  worship  in  Fairfax  parish  was  at  Alexandria  5  in  Truro  parish,  at  Pohick; 
the  former  ten,  the  latter  seven,  miles  from  Mount  Yernon." 


Vestry  chosen  for  Fairfax  parish,  2Sth  March,  1765,  with  the 
number  of  votes  for  each. 


John  West 
Charles  Alexander 
William  Payne     . 
John  Dalton 
George  Washington 
Charles  Broadwater 


340 
309 
304 
281 
274 
260 


George  Johnston 
Townshend  Dade 
Richard  Sandford 
William  Adams    . 
John  Posey 
Daniel  French 


254 
252 
247 
244 
222 
221 


Vestry  chosen  for  Truro  parish,  22 d  July^  1765,  with  the  number 
of  votes  for  each. 


George  Mason      .         .  .282 

Edward  Payne     .         .  .277 

George  Washington      .  .259 

John  Posey          .         .  .259 

Daniel  McCarty  .         .  .     246 

George  William  Fairfax  .     285 


Alexander  HendersoD  .  ,231 

William  Gardner  .  .     218 

Tomison  Ellzey    .  .  .     209 

Thomas  W.  Coffer  .  .     189 

William  Lynton  .  .  .     172 

Thomas  Ford        .  .  .170 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA.  271 


ARTICLE  LXX. 

St.  Paul's  Okurch,   Alexandria  and   Cameron    and  Shelbume 

Parishes,  London  County. 

WE  have  already  said  that  St.  Paul's  Church  grew  out  of  a  differ- 
ence between  the  Rev.  Mr;  Gibson  and  the  congregation  of  Christ 
Church,  in  1809.  There  were  worthy  persons  in  the  vestry  and 
congregation  who  thought  that  Mr.  Gibson's  apology  for  the  manner 
in  which  he  resigned  his  charge  ought  to  have  been  accepted,  and 
that  he  should  have  been  allowed  to  withdraw  his  resignation  and 
continue  his  ministry.  The  majority  of  the  vestry  thought  other- 
wise, and  that  it  would  be  better  to  let  the  connection  be  dissolved. 
Some  of  the  vestry  and  of  the  congregation  thought  that  the  harsh- 
ness of  manner  and  language  sometimes  apparent  in  his  discourses 
proceeded  from  an  honest  zeal,  which  made  him  speak  very  differ- 
ently from  the  tame  way  and  courteous  strain  of  the  old  clergy, 
and  therefore  determined  to  form  a  new  congregation.  They  accord- 
ingly purchased  a  small  vacant  church  belonging  to  the  Presbyterian 
denomination,  and  commenced  services  in  it.  On  the  23d  of  Janu- 
ary, 1810,  a  vestry  was  organized,  consisting  of  Daniel  McLean, 
Lawrence  Hooff,  James  B.  Nicholls,  Mark  Butts,  Nathaniel  0. 
Hunter,  John  Young,  Joseph  Thomas,  Adam  Lynn,  Joseph  Thorn* 
ton,  John  Hooff,  Thomas  West  Peyton,  to  whom  at  different  times, 
until  the  year  1832,  have  been  added  Charles  Page,  Thomas  Moore^ 
Augustin  Newton,  Ferdinand  Mastellar,  John  Gird,  Lawrence 
Lewis,  Humphrey  Peake,  W.  C.  Gardiner,  James  Entwisle,  Isaa| 
Cannell,  Christopher  Neale,  George  Johnson,  Norman  Fitzhugh, 
Silas  Reed,  Lewis  A.  Cazenove,  Benjamin  L  Fendall,  Bernard 
Hooe,  Charles  Koones,  William  Fowle,  Lewis  Hooff,  Anthony  Mc- 
Lean, Geo,  TJ.  Smoot,  William  H.  Fowle,  James  Green,  Dr.  Isaac 
Winston,  Francis  L,  Smith,  Stephen  Shinn,  David  Funsten,  Orlando 
Fairfax,  Silas  Reed,  George  Brent,  Bernard  Hooe,  &c. 

MINISTERS   OF   ST.  PAUL'S   CHUBCH. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Gibson  resigned  in  the  month  of  September,  1811. 
In  the  following  February  the  Rev.  Wm.  Wilmer  entered  upon  the 
charge  and  continued  in  it  until  the  19th  of  October,  1826,  when 


272  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,  AND 

he  accepted  the  Presidency  of  William  and  Mary  College.  During 
his  ministry  the  old  church  was  enlarged  and  the  present  church 
built,  and  the  congregation  increased  manifold.  Of  Dr.  Wilmer  I 
have  already  spoken  in  one  of  the  articles  on  Williamsburg.  I  will 
only  add  that  the  congregation  could  not  have  been  supplied  with 
one  better  calculated  to  build  it  up,  whether  we  consider  his  zeal, 
prudence,  or  ability  for  the  work,  in  private  or  public.  During  his 
residence  in  Virginia  he  was  always  sent  to  the  General  Convention, 
and  when  there  chosen  to  preside  over  its  deliberations.  With  his 
pen  he  defended  Protestantism  against  Romanism,  and  moderate 
views  of  the  Church  and  Sacraments  against  certain  extravagant 
ones  which  were  at  that  early  period  finding  their  way  amcng  us. 
At  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Wilmer,  the  Rev.  William  Jackson  was 
chosen,  but  did  not  enter  upon  his  duties  until  February,  1827. 
Most  acceptably  and  usefully  did  he  labour  in  this  congregation, 
until  his  resignation  in  June,  1832,  when  he  accepted  a  call  to  St. 
Stephen's  Church,  New  York.  He  left  St.  Paul's  and  the  diocese 
of  Virginia  with  the  deep  regrets  of  all  who  knew  his  amiable 
character,  heard  his  excellent  sermons,  and  had  opportunity  to 
appreciate  his  great  worth.  The  Rev.  James  T.  Johnson  was  then 
elected,  and  entered  upon  his  duties  in  the  fall  of  1833,  and  con- 
tinues the  minister  until  the  present  time,  1857. 

I  find  one  or  two  things  on  the  records  of  this  parish  which  are 
worthy  of  insertion.  Bishop  Madison  was  applied  to  to  consecrate 
the  first  St.  Paul's  Church,  but  declined  on  account  of  collegiate 
duties,  and  requested  Bishop  Claggett  to  perform  the  office,  which  was 
done  promptly  and  much  to  the  gratification  of  all.  An  instance 
of  liberality  deserves  also  to  be  inserted.  The  first  St.  Paul's 
Church  was  bought  on  credit  for  the  sum  of  three  thousand  five 
hundred  dollars.  In  the  year  1813,  Mr.  Daniel  McLean,  one  of 
the  vestry,  paid  the  amount  and  made  a  deed  to  the  vestry  for  it. 
The  second  church  so  exceeded  the  first  in  size  and  expense  as  to 
cost  twenty-six  thousand  dollars. 

CAMERON   AND   SHELBXJRNE   PARISHES. 

Cameron  parish  was  cut  off  from  Truro  parish  in  1749,  and  until 
1769  included  Shelburne  parish.  A  few  words  will  suffice  for  all 
the  information  I  have  to  communicate  concerning  it.  In  the  year 
1758  the  Rev.  John  Andrews  was  its  minister ;  whether  before  or 
after  this,  or  how  long,  is  not  known.  Whether  he  was  the  minister 
who  was  subsequently  the  professor  at  Williamsburg,  and  after  the 
war  discontinued  the  ministry  and  moved  to  Philadelphia,  is  not 


FAMILIES    OF   VIRGINIA.  273 

known.  He  was  ordained  in  1749,  and  the  Rev.  Archibald  Avens, 
who  probably  succeeded  him  in  Cameron  parish,  in  1767.  In  the 
years  1773,  1774,  and  1776,  the  Rev.  Spence  Grayson  was  the 
minister;  whether  before  or  after,  or  how  long,  not  known.  We  hear 
nothing  of  this  parish  after  the  Revolution.  There  was  a  church 
in  it  near  the  Gumspring,  the  traces  of  which  are  yet  to  be  seen. 
There  was,  I  think,  another  not  far  from  the  junction  of  the  roads 
from  Georgetown  and  Alexandria  to  Leesburg. 

In  addition  to  this  brief  notice  of  Cameron  and  Shelburne  parishes, 
we  are  able  to  furnish  the  following  facts  concerning  the  latter, 
taken  from  an  old  vestry-book,  or  rather  fragment  of  one,  com- 
mencing in  1771  and  ending  in  1806.  On  the  10th  of  April,  in  the 
year  1771,  the  churchwardens — John  Lewis  and  Thomas  Shore — 
are  directed  to  employ  some  minister  to  perform  divine  service  once 
in  every  three  months  during  pleasure,  and  that  the  preference  be 
given  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Scott,  and  that  the  minister  employed  do 
preach  at  Leesburg  and  the  other  chapel  (called  the  Mountain 
Chapel)  in  the  parish,  as  also  at  some  convenient  place  near  the 
gap  of  the  Short  Hill,  to  be  fixed  on  by  the  churchwardens.  On 
the  27th  of  July  of  that  year,  at  the  meeting  of  the  vestry,  it  ap- 
pears that  the  Rev.  Archibald  Avens,  who  was  no  doubt  the  minister 
in  the  parish  of  Cameron  in  the  year  1769,  two  years  before,  when 
Shelburne  was  cut  off  from  it,  and  who  was  living  in  the  part  which 
was  assigned  to  Cameron,  had  moved  into  Shelburne  and  claimed 
to  be  its  minister.  This  the  vestry  resisted,  and  advertised  for  a 
minister  in  the  Virginia  Gazette.  In  the  month  of  August  of  the 
same  year  we  find  the  following  entry: — 

"  Mr.  William  Leigh,  a  student  of  William  and  Mary  College,  having 
been  warmly  recommended  to  this  vestry  by  the  president,  masters,  and 
professors  or  said  college,  as  a  young  man  of  sound  learning,  unfeigned 
piety,  and  unexceptionable  morals,  we  do  hereby  undertake  and  agree  to 
receive  him  as  minister  of  this  parish,  provided  it  should  continue  vacant 
till  he  returns  from  Great  Britain  in  Holy  Orders,  unless  he  should  by 
some  misconduct  forfeit  the  good  opinion  we  entertain  of  him." 

At  a  meeting  in  November  of  the  same  year,  five  thousand  three 
hundred  and  twelve  pounds  of  tobacco  were  leviei  for  the  Rev. 
James  Scott,  who  had  been  officiating  for  them.  He  was  doubtless 
the  minister  of  Prince  William  parish,  of  whom  we  have  formerly 
written,  and  who  had  been  engaged  to  visit  this  parish  during  the 
last  six  months. 

In  the  next  month  we  find  the  Rev.  David  Griffith  elected  and 
unanimously  recommended  to  the  Governor  for  induction,  which 
Voi.  II.— 18 


274  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

was  a  striking  proof  of  their  confidence  in  Mm.  Five  thousand* 
weight  of  tobacco  were  added  to  his  salary  in  place  of  a  glebe, — 
there  being  none  at  that  time.  Mr.  Griffith  continued  their  minister 
until  May,  1776.  During  that  year  he  engaged  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary struggle  as  chaplain.  There  is  no  record  of  any  meeting 
of  the  vestry  after  May  the  22d,  1776,  until  April  27,  1779  In 
1780  the  vestry  advertise  for  a  minister.  From  1776  to  1792  the 
vestry  was  unable  to  obtain  a  minister.  Indeed,  it  was  impossible 
to  collect  any  thing  for  that  purpose.  The  glebe  which  had  been 
purchased  for  Mr.  Griffith  was  rented  out  during  that  time  for  a 
very  small  sum.  In  the  year  1794  the  Rev.  Alexander  Jones  is 
minister  for  one  year  on  a  salary  of  fifty  pounds.  In  1796  the 
Rev.  Alexander  McFarlan  becomes  the  minister,  on  the  written 
condition  that  he  may  be  removed  at  any  time  according  to  the 
canons  of  the  Church  of  Virginia.  He  engaged  to  preach  two 
Sundays  at  Leesburg,  one  at  the  Pot-House,  and  one  at  Middle- 
burg.  In  the  year  1801,  Mr.  McFarlan,  in  a  letter  to  the  vestry, 
resigns  the  parish  and  gives  up  the  glebe,  on  the  express  condition 
that  they  choose  the  Rev.  John  Dunn  as  his  successor.  The  vestry 
accept  his  resignation,  adding  that  they  have  no  regard  to  his  con- 
ditions, which  he  had  no  right  to  make.  They,  however,  elect  Mr. 
Dunn,  who  was  their  worthy  minister  until  his  death  in  1827.  He 
was  ordained  Priest  by  Bishop  Madison.  Mr.  Dunn  was  suddenly 
seized  with  paralysis  while  performing  service  in  Middleburg,  and 
died  in  Leesburg  shortly  after. 

I  was  called  to  witness  his  happy,  triumphant  death,  and  after 
some  time  to  make  an  improvement  of  both  his  life  and  death  in  a 
funeral  discourse,  which  was  published.  Had  I  a  copy  of  it,  I 
would  make  use  of  some  parts  of  it  in  order  to  convey  to  my  read- 
ers the  impressions  then  resting  on  my  own  mind  and  on  that  of  the 
community  concerning  this  excellent  man.  The  text  was,  "Be- 
hold an  Israelite  indeed,  in  whom  there  is  no  guile."  And  seldom 
has  it  ever  been  so  true  of  any  of  the  frail  children  of  men.  He 
was  in  all  things  a  most  sincere  and  upright  man,  "  speaking  the 
truth  from  his  heart."  He  was  a  man  of  a  most  humble  and  con- 
tented mind.  He  lived  on  his  glebe,  and,  though  not  much  of  a 
farmer,  and  a  very  easy  master  to  the  few  servants  belonging  to 
himself  or  Mrs.  Dunn,  lived  on  its  proceeds,  receiving  little  or 
nothing  else,  until  perhaps  the  last  few  years  of  his  life.  I  can 
never  forget  his  words  or  looks  when,  walking  about  his  premises, 
he  told  me  that  he  had  nothing  to  wish  for  more ;  that  he  had  corn 
enough  in  his  granary  to  last  until  Christmas,  and  some  hay,  and 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  275 

was  out  of  debt ;  "  and  what  do  I  want  more  ?"  be  emphatically  asked. 
Mr*  Dunn  was  a  man  of  sound  views  of  religion  and  an  honest 
preacher  of  them.  From  the  time  of  the  first  efforts  for  the  revival 
of  religion  in  Virginia  until  his  death,  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Standing  Committee  of  the  diocese  and  punctual  in  his  attendance, 
though  living  at  some  distance  from  the  place  where  its  meetings 
were  held. 

He  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Jackson,  who  continued 
for  three  years  to  fill  the  place  with  ability  and  great  acceptable- 
ness.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Cutler  then  spent  a  year  in  the  parish,  and, 
at  the  end  of  that  time,  removed  to  his  present  charge  in  Brooklyn, 
New  York. 

The  Rev.  George  Adie  took  charge  of  it  in  1832,  and  continued 
in  it  until  his  death,  in  1856, — being  its  faithful,  laborious,  and 
beloved  minister  for  nearly  twenty-four  years, — and  has  been  suc- 
ceeded by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Caldwell.  Mr.  Adie,  for  many  years  con- 
nected with  his  charge  at  Leesburg  regular  though  infrequent  services 
at  Upperville,  Middleburg,  and  Aldie.  He  also  acted  as  chaplain  to 
the  female  school  at  Belmont,  a  few  miles  from  Leesburg,  kept  by 
Miss  Margaret  Mercer.  For  a  faithful  and  deeply-interesting 
account  of  this  remarkable  woman  we  must  refer  our  readers  to  the 
little  volume  by  Dr.  Caspar  Morris,  of  Philadelphia,  than  which 
there  are  few  biographies  more  just,  more  edifying,  or  more  pleasing* 
Miss  Mercer  still  lives  in  the  memories  and  affections  of  her  nume- 
rous pupils,  who  are  scattered  over  the  land.  For  some  years  the 
Sunday  afternoon  services  of  Mr.  Adie  were  held  in  the  large  hall 
at  Belmont ;  but,  as  there  were  many  poor  in  the  neighbourhood, 
Miss  Mercer,  at  her  own  expense,  put  up  a  neat  little  chapel  a 
short  distance  from  the  house,  for  their  benefit.  I  have  spent  some 
interesting  seasons  in  this  house  of  Grod,  preaching  and  administer- 
ing Confirmation.  Miss  Mercer  was  then  and  there  to  be  seen  in 
her  highest  glory  and  happiness,  in  the  midst  of  her  pupils  and  the 
poor.  At  her  death,  a  tomb  was  erected  in  the  churchyard  by  a 
general  contribution  from  her  pupils,  with  the  following  inscrip- 
tion : — 

"  Sacred  to  the  memory  of  Margaret  Mercer,  bora  July  1,  1791  j  died 
September  17,  1846.  Her  remains  repose  beneath  the  chancel  of  this 
church,  built  by  her  own  self-denying  labours.  This  monument  is  erected 
by  her  pupils,  as  a  testimony  of  their  admiration  of  her  elevated  Christian 
character,  and  of  their  gratitude  for  her  invaluable  instructions." 

The  history  of  the  churcies  in  Shelburne  parish,  as  seen  on 
the  vestry-book,  is  amusing.  For  some  years  before  the  war,  the 


276  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTEKS,  AND 

record  states  that  various  places  were  determined  upon  and  thei; 
abandoned,  various  plans  agreed  upon  and  then  changed.  Twice 
was  it  ordered  that  a  church  be  built  at  a  place  belonging  to  George 
William  Fairfax,  once  on  the  land  of  Colonel  Tayloe,  then  at  the 
fork  of  the  road  leading  to  Noland's  Perry ;  sometimes  it  was  to 
be  of  wood,  then  of  stone,  sometimes  of  one  size,  then  of  another. 
I  am  unable  to  designate  either  of  the  places.  The  war  came  upon 
them  while  thus  divided  in  sentiment,  and  settled  the  question  in 
favour  of  none.  It  was  not  until  the  second  war  with  England 
that  an  Episcopal  church  was  begun  in  Leesburg,  on  its  present 
site.  Services  were  held  by  Mr.  Dunn  in  the  old  Presbyterian 
church  in  Leesburg,  and  the  free  church  in  Middleburg. 

A  few  words  concerning  the  old  glebe  in  this  parish  will  not  be 
without  interest  to  the  present  generation.  About  the  year  1772, 
a  tract  of  land  containing  four  hundred  and  sixty-five  acres,  on  the 
North  Fork  of  Goose  Creek,  was  purchased,  and,  soon  after,  a 
house  put  upon  it.  When  Mr.  Dunn  became  minister,  in  1801,  an 
effort  was  made  by  the  overseers  of  the  poor  to  sell  it,  but  it  was 
effectually  resisted  at  law.  At  the  death  of  Mr.  Dunn,  in  1827, 
the  overseers  of  the  poor  again  proceeded  to  sell  it.  The  vestry 
was  divided  in  opinion  as  to  the  course  to  be  pursued.  Four  of 
them— Dr.  W.  C.  Selden,  Dr.  Henry  Claggett,  Mr.  Fayette  Ball, 
and  George  M.  Chichester — were  in  favour  of  resisting  it;  the 
other  eight  thought  it  best  to  let  it  share  the  fate  of  all  the  others. 
It  was  accordingly  sold.  The  purchaser  lived  in  Maryland ;  and, 
of  course,  the  matter  might  be  brought  before  the  Supreme  Court 
as  a  last  resort,  should  the  courts  of  Virginia  decide-  against  the 
Church's  claim.  The  minority  of  four,  encouraged  by  the  decision 
of  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  case  of  the  Fairfax  glebe,  determined 
to  engage  in  a  lawsuit  for  it.  It  was  first  brought  in  Winchester, 
and  decided  against  the  Church.  It  was  then  carried  to  the  Court 
of  Appeals,  in  Richmond,  and,  during  its  lingering  progress  there, 
three  out  of  four  of  the  vestrymen  who  engaged  in  it  died,  and  the 
fourth  was  persuaded  to  withdraw  it. 

List  of  the  Vestrymen  of  Shelburne  Parish  from  the  year  1771  to  1806. 

William  Smith,  Thomas  Lewis,  James  Hamilton,  Francis  Peyton,  Josias 
Clapham,  Levin  Powell,  John  Lewis,  Thomas  Ousley,  Thos.  Shore,  Thomp- 
son Mason,  Stephen  Donaldson,  Craven  Peyton,  Colonel  Wm,  Bronaugh, 
Colonel  John  Alexander,  Joshua  Gore,  Thos.  Bespass,  Jos.  Combs,  Colonel 
dymon  Triplett,  Thomas  Kenner,  J.  Daniel,  Benjamin  G-rayson,  Joseph 
Lane,  Stephen  Thompson  Mason,  Matthew  Rust,  Wilson  C.  Selden,  Cha& 
Bennett,  A.  B.  T.  Mason,  William  Bronaugh,  Jr.,  W  H.  Powell,  Willian? 


FAMILIES   OP  VIRGINIA.  277 

Jones,  Thomas  Fouch,  William  Fouke,  Dr.  Thomas  Simm,  Burr  Powell, 
Peter  B.  Whiting,  Jas.  Leith,  William  Chilton,  Charles  Fenton  Mercer. 

The  vestry-book  from  the  year  1806  to  this  present  time  having 
been  mislaid  or  lost,  a  friend  has  sent  me  from  recollection  the 
following  list  of  vestrymen  in  addition  to  the  above  : — 

W.  C.  Selden,  Henry  Claggett,  Bichard  H.  Henderson,  W  T.  T.  Mason, 
Fayette  Ball,  G.  M.  Chichester,  Jno.  I.  Harding,  William  Ellzey,  Lewis 
Berkeley,  B.  Maulsby,  C.  Douglass,  W.  H.  Gray,  Dr.  J.  Gray,  W.  A.  Powell, 
George  Lee,  J.  P.  Smart,  H.  Saunders,  A.  Belt,  C.  Powell,  C.  Hempstone, 
John  Wildman,  S.  K,  Jackson,  B.  W.  Harrison,  H.T.  Harrison,  I.  Orr, 
Thomas  H.  Claggett. 

THE   POWELL  FAMILY. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain  any  thing  very  certain  con- 
cerning the  family  of  Powells  which  appears  on  the  records  of  the 
Church  in  Loudon  county.  The  name  of  Powell  is  a  very  ancient 
one  on  the  civil  records  of  Virginia.  Outhbert  Powell  was  contem- 
porary in  Lancaster  county  with  the  first  John  Carter.  Indeed,  the 
name  is  found  on  one  or  more  of  the  earliest  lists  of  adventurers  to 
Virginia.  Colonel  Powell,  of  Loudon, — father  of  Messrs.  Leven, 
Burr,  Cuthbert,  Alfred  Powell,  and  their  sisters, — married  a  near 
relative  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Harrison,  of  Dumfries,  of  whose  ancestors 
some  account,  taken  from  the  record  of  Westminster  parish,  England, 
was  given  in  our  sketch  of  Dettingen  parish.  Colonel  Powell  was 
once  a  member  of  Congress  from  his  district.  With  his  widow  I  was 
acquainted  in  the  earlier  years  of  my  ministry.  She  was  one  whose 
fidelity  to  the  Church  no  adversity  could  shake.  When  all  others 
were  deserting  it,  she  continued  steadfast.  A  minister  of  another 
denomination  was  once  conversing  with  her  on  the  subject  of  his 
own  and  her  Church,  and  said  that  there  was  but  little  difference 
between  them, — that  they  were  like  twin-sisters.  Whether  she 
suspected  him  of  some  design  at  proselyting  or  not,  I  cannot  say, 
but  she  very  decidedly  replied,  "It  might  be  so,  but  that  she 
greatly  preferred  one  of  the  sisters  to  the  other."  She  was  old- 
fashioned  in  all  her  ways, — in  her  dress,  her  home,  her  furniture, 
and  domestic  occupations.  She  lived  in  a  plain  house,  a  little  back 
of  the  main  and  indeed  only  street  in  Middleburg.  On  one  of  my 
journeys  to  Alexandria,  while  stopping  on  a  summer's  afternoon  at 
that  place,  I  walked  over  to  her  abode,  and  found  her  busily  en- 
gaged at  her  wheel,  spinning  tow  or  flax,  on  what  was  called  the 
small  wheel  in  those  days,  in  contradistinction  to  that  on  which 
wool  and  cotton  were  spun,  and  which  was  called  the  large  wheel. 


278  OLD    CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,    AND 

The  march  of  improvement  has  left  both  sorts  far  behind,  and  with 
them  much  honest,  domestic  industry  and  substantial  clothing. 

One  word  concerning  my  old  friend,  Mr.  Lewis  Berkeley,  of  Aldie. 
We  were  school-boys  together.  He  was  descended  from  the  oW 
family  of  Berkeleys  in  Middlesex,  which  lived  at  Barnelms,  on  the 
Pyankatank,  and  which  was  the  last  to  leave  the  county,  after 
having  been  a  main  prop  to  the  Church  for  more  than  one  hundred 
and  fifty  years.  Mr.  Lewis  Berkeley  married  a  daughter  of  Mr. 
William  Noland,  an  old  member  of  the  Legislature  from  Loudon,  in 
days  long  since  passed  away.  Mr.  Noland  signalized  himself  by  his 
zealous  advocacy  of  the  law  against  duelling.  So  just  and  sensible 
was  his  speech  on  the  subject,  that  it  was  soon  introduced  into  the 
school-books  or  collection  of  pieces  for  school-boys,  and  still  holds 
its  place.  Mr.  Berkeley,  his  excellent  wife,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Noland,  were  fo*  a  long  term  of  years  the  pious,  consistent,  active, 
and  liberal  supporters  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  Loudon,  whether 
the  services  were  at  Aldie,  Middleburg,  or  even  twelve  miles  off, 
at  Leesburg,  at  which  latter  place  they  often  attended. 


FAMILIES  OP  VIRGINIA,  270 


ARTICLE  LXXL 
Parishes  in  Frederick  County. 

IN  our  last  communication  we  had  reached  the  Blue  Ridge, — the 
great  dividing-line  between  Eastern  and  Western  Virginia.  We 
now  ascend  that  beautiful  range  of  mountains,  and  look  down  on 
the  wide  and  extensive  valley  which  lies  between  it  and  those  nume- 
rous ones  which  hide  the  great  Alleghany  from  our  view.  I  believe 
it  is  generally  admitted  that  this  valley  is  not  only  the  most  fertile 
and  desirable  portion  of  the  State,  but  also  the  most  picturesque 
and  beautiful.  But  it  is  not  our  province  to  descant  on  such  themes. 
We  may,  however,  be  permitted  to  declare  our  assent  to  the  hypo- 
thesis  of  Mr.  Jefferson  and  others,  that  it  was  once  a  great  lake  or 
sea,  which  emptied  itself  through  the  channel  formed  by  the  force 
of  the  waters  at  Harper's  Ferry,  leaving  immense  prairies  behind 
to  be  covered  in  due  time  with  heavy  forests,  some  of  which  our 
eyes  now  behold,  while  most  of  them  have  been  felled  by  the  hands 
of  our  forefathers.* 

Such  a  country  could  not  but  attract  the  attention  of  hardy  and 
adventurous  farmers.  The  first  who  entered  it  were  from  Pennsyl* 
vania.  Crossing  the  Potomac  at  what  is  now  called  Shepherdstown, 
but  at  first  and  for  a  considerable  time  Mecklenburg, — doubtless 
after  some  town  or  place  in  Germany, — they  there  made  a  settle- 
ment. From  thence  emigration  proceeded  on  toward  Winchester, 
Stephensburg,  or  Newtown,  Woodstock,  &c.  Joist  Hite,  the  an- 
cestor of  all  the  Hites,  was  the  first  to  make  a  settlement  north  of 
Winchester,  with  sixteen  families.  This  was  in  the  year  1732.  His 


*  It  is  a  true  tradition,  I  believe,  that  one  of  the  Carters,  who  at  an  early 
period  took  tip  or  purchased  a  large  tract  of  land  in  old  Frederick,  including  all 
that  which  now  belongs  to  the  Burwell  family,  and  extending  beyond  and  along  the 
Opequon  and  its  barren  hills  and  stunted  trees,  offered  to  one  of  his  sons  the  choice 
of  an  equal  portion  of  that  upon  the  Opequon  and  of  that  fertile  prairie  lying  be- 
tween it  and  the  Shenandoah  Biver,  and  that  the  former  was  preferred  because  of 
the  timber,  which  was  visible,  though  of  so  indifferent  a  character.  That  the  lower 
and  richer  lands  of  this  part  of  the  valley  were  once  prairie  in  the  days  of  our 
forefathers  is  generally  admitted.  Old  Mr.  Isaac  Hite,  of  Bellgrove,  now  deceased, 
informed  me  that  his  father  often  spoke  of  the  land  about  the  White  Post  as  being, 
in  his  day,  covered  with  a  thickei  of  saplings* 


280  OLD   CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

descendants  of  that  name  became  active  members  of,  or  friends  of, 
the  Episcopal  Church.  Soon  after  this,  Presbyterians  of  Scotch 
and  Irish  descent  began  to  settle  in  the  valley.  In  the  year  1738, 
a  number  from  Pennsylvania,  wishing  to  add  themselves  to  those 
already  settled,  sent,  through  the  synod  of  Pennsylvania,  a  deputa 
tion  to  Governor  Gooch,  of  Virginia,  "  asking  all  liberty  of  con- 
science and  of  worshipping  God  agreeably  to  the  principles  of  their 
education."  They  professed  the  utmost  loyalty  to  the  Eing,  and 
promised  "  the  most  dutiful  submission  to  the  government  which  is 
placed  over  them."  The  Governor  assured  them  of  his  favour,  and 
that  no  interruption  should  be  given  to  their  ministers,  if  they  should 
"  conform  themselves  to  the  rules  prescribed  by  the  Act  of  Tolera- 
tion in  England/'  It  was  the  same  principle  which  had  been  acted 
on  before  this  time  in  Virginia,  and  continued  to  be  to  the  end  of 
the  Colonial  Establishment.  Under  that  law,  any  number  of 
persons,  of  whatsoever  name,  might  ask  for  and  should  receive  a 
license  for  some  place  of  meeting  where  they  might  worship  after 
their  own  way.  Even  during  the  preceding  century,  the  first  of 
our  settlements  in  Virginia,  the  Germans  on  the  Rappahannock 
and  the  French  Huguenots  on  James  River  had  not  only  been  tole- 
rated, but  allowed  special  favours,  such  as  grants  of  lands  and 
freedom  from  taxes,  until  of  their  own  accord  they  applied  to  be 
admitted  into  union  with  the  Established  Church  under  Episcopal 
ministers, — finding  it  difficult  to  procure  any  of  their  own.  Other 
denominations  also  were  allowed  licenses  for  places  of  worship, — 
whether  private  or  public  houses, — provided  they  sought  and  used 
them  in  compliance  with  the  true  intent  of  the  law.  In  the  case  of 
President  Davies,  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century, — which  we 
have  considered  when  speaking  of  the  parish  in  Hanover, — seven 
places  of  worship  were  licensed  for  him  before  the  Governor  de- 
clared that  he  was  exceeding  the  bounds  prescribed  by  the  spirit 
and  intent  of  the  law. 

With  these  general  observations  we  proceed  to  the  history  of  the 
parish  of  Frederick.  The  materials  are  furnished  by  the  Acts  of 
Assembly  dating  back  to  the  year  1738,  to  the  records  of  the  court 
beginning  in  1744,  and  to  the  old  vestry-book  going  back  to  the 
year  1764,  and  some  papers  of  an  earlier  date. 

In  the  year  1738,  the  Assembly,  in  consideration  of  the  increas- 
ing number  of  settlers  in  the  valley,  determined  to  cut  off  two 
new  counties  and  parishes — West  Augusta  and  Frederick — from 
Orange  county  and  parish,  which  latter  then  took  in  all  Western 
Wginia.  The  county  and  parish  of  Frederick  embraced  all  that 


FAMILIES   OF   VIRGINIA.  281 

is  now  Shenandoah,  with  a  part  of  Page,  Warren,  Clarke,  Frederick, 
Jefferson,  Berkeley,  and  Hampshire.  Augusta  had  all  the  rest  to 
the  utmost  limits  of  Virginia,  wherever  they  were, — the  contest  with 
France  as  to  the  boundaries  not  being  then  settled.  The  execu- 
tion of  the  Act,  however,  was  postponed  until  it  should  be  made  to 
appear  that  there  were  inhabitants  enough  for  the  appointment  of 
justices  of  the  peace,  &c.  In  the  year  1744,  the  vestry  and  court 
of  Frederick  county  were  organized  and  in  action.  Of  the  vestry, 
nothing  more  is  heard  after  its  organization,  except  the  appoint- 
ment of  processioners  in  1747,  until  the  year  1752,  when  an  Act 
of  Assembly  was  passed  dissolving  it  and  ordering  a  new  election, 
on  the  ground  that  it  had  raised  more  than  fifteen  hundred  pounds 
for  building  a  number  of  churches  which  were  unfinished  and  in  a 
ruinous  condition.  As  the  churches  of  that  day  and  in  this  region 
were  log-houses,  costing  only  from  thirty  to  forty  or  fifty  pounds, 
there  must  have  been  much  misspending  of  money.  Who  those 
vestrymen  were  does  not  appear.  Those  chosen  in  their  place  were 
the  following: — Thomas  Lord  Fairfax,  Isaac  Perkins,  Gabriel  Jones, 
John  Hite,  Thomas  Swearingen,  Charles  Buck,  Robert  Lemmon, 
John  Lindsey,  John  Ashby,  James  Cromley,  Lewis  Neil.  Thomas 
Bryan  Martin,  the  nephew  and  one  of  the  heirs  of  Lord  Fairfax, 
does  not  ever  appear  as  vestryman,  but  seems  to  have  been  an 
active  magistrate,  and  to  have  taken  a  considerable  part  in  com- 
pleting McCoy's  Chapel,  on  the  road  from  Winchester  to  Front 
Royal,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  McCoys  and  Cunningham  Chapel, 
which  stood  near  the  spot  where  what  has  been  long  called  the  Old 
Chapel — near  the  Burwell  burial-ground — still  stands.  Mr.  Edward 
McGuire  also  appears  as  a  magistrate,  but  not  as  vestryman, — he 
being  of  the  Romish  Church.  He  was  the  ancestor  of  many  worthy 
ministers  and  members  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of 
Virginia. 

Having  mentioned  Lord  Fairfax  as  the  first  on  the  list  of  that 
most  respectable  body  of  vestrymen  given  above,  and  who  also  gave 
the  land  on  which  the  church  in  Winchester  stood,  and  under  which 
he  was  buried,  it  is  but  right  that  we  should  add  a  few  words  as  to 
himself  and  his  numerous  and  most  estimable  relatives  now  scattered 
through  this  and  other  States. 

The  first  of  the  Fairfaxes  who  came  to  this  country,  and  who 
settled  in  Westmoreland,  and  then  on  an  estate  near  Mount  Vernon, 
called  Belvoir,  was  Mr.  William  Fairfax,  a  scholar,  a  soldier  and 
civilian.  The  latter  character  he  exhibited  as  President  of  the 
Council  of  Virginia, — the  station  next  to  that  of  Governor.  By  two 


282  OLD  CHURCHES,   MINISTERS,   AND 

marriages  he  had  five  children,— George  William,  Thomas,  William, 
Bryan,  and  Hannah.  George  William  married  a  Miss  Gary,  of 
Virginia,  but  left  the  county  before  the  Revolutionary  War. 
Thomas  and  William  died,  the  one  in  the  English  navy  and  the 
other  in  the  army.  Bryan  took  Orders  in  the  Episcopal  Church,  and 
was  for  some  years  minister  of  Christ's  Church,  Alexandria.  Hannah 
married  Warner  Washington,  of  Fairfield,  a  near  relative  of  George 
Washington,  and  was  a  worthy  member  of  our  Church,  leaving  two 
sons  and  three  daughters  behind.  Two  of  her  daughters — Mrs. 
Milton  (who  was  previously  Mrs. Nelson)  and  Mrs.  Whiting— were 
long  and  well  known  to  me  as  among  the  best  of  women.  Of  their 
mother  I  have  often  heard  Mr.  Balmaine  speak  in  the  highest 
terms.*  The  elder  William  Fairfax  was  the  manager  of  the  estates 
of  his  kinsman.  Lord  Thomas  Fairfax,  the  owner  of  all  the  lands  in 
the  Northern  Neck  of  Virginia,  which  he  inherited  from  his  mother, 
the  daughter  of  Lord  Culpepper,  and  which  were  bounded  by  the 
Rappahannock  and  Potomac,  extending  to  the  head-waters  of  each, 
the  one  beginning  in  the  Blue  Ridge,  the  other  in  the  Alleghany 
Mountains.  Lord  Fairfax  was  a  man  of  the  most  perfect  English 
education,  Oxford  being  his  Alma  Mater.  He  was  a  member  of 
that  club  of  which  Addison  was  the  head,  and  to  whose  pens  we  are 
indebted  for  that  immortal  work,  the  Spectator.  He  was  early  and 
deeply  disappointed  in  love,  which  gave  a  turn  to  his  character  and 
habits,  and  prepared  him  for  seclusion  in  the  wilds  of  America. 
In  1749,  he  visited  his  estates  in  Virginia,  and  was  so  much  pleased 
with  the  country  that  he  determined  to  settle  here.  During  that 
visit  he  became  acquainted  with?  and  attached  to,  young  George 
Washington,  then  only  sixteen  years  of  age.  The  affection  was 
returned  on  the  part  of  Washington,  and  he  readily  accepted  the 
proposition  of  Lord  Fairfax  to  become  surveyor  of  all  his  lands. 
Lord  Fairfax  returned  for  a  short  time  to  England,  while  Washing- 


*  In  proof  of  the  zeal  of  Mrs.  Hannah  Washington,  of  Fairfield,  in  the  cause  of 
religion  and  the  Church,  I  might  adduce  a  brief  correspondence  between  herself  and 
Mr.  George  Lewis,  who  lived  at  the  place  afterward  owned  by  Mr.  Milton,  on  the 
subject  of  securing  the  services  of  Mr.  Balmaine  in  the  year  1787,  when  steps 
were  taken  to  build  what  has  always  been  called  The  Chapel.  Mrs.  Washington, 
whose  example  has  been  followed  by  many  good  ladies  in  Virginia  since,  took  an 
active  part  in  same  Church  matters,  and  wrote  to  Mr.  Lewis,  proposing  that, 
inasmuch  as  at  least  a  year  must  elapse  before  the  chapel  could  be  finished,  the 
neighbours  on  both  sides  of  Battletown  should  unite  in  renting  a  house  of  a  Mr 
McMahon,  at  Traphill,  for  divine  service,  and  promises  to  send  her  carpenters  to  fit 
it  up  for  the  purpose.  To  this  Mr.  Lewis  readily  assents,  and  the  plan  was  adopted. 
*he  house  was  pointed  out  to  me  between  forty  and  fifty  years  ago. 


FAMILIES    DF   VIRG-INIA  283 

ton  immediately  repaired  to  his  work  in  the  valley,  making  his 
head-quarters  at  Greenway  Court.  Washington  continued  for  two 
or  three  years  in  the  service  of  Lord  Fairfax,  and  as  public  sur- 
veyor for  Western  Virginia.  At  the  death  of  Lord  Fairfax,  in 
1781,  being  ninety-two  years  of  age,  the  title  fell  to  his  only  sur- 
viving brother,  Kobert,  in  England,  and  at  his  death,  which  occurred 
soon  after,  to  the  Rev.  Bryan  Fairfax,  the  nearest  kinsman.  It 
deserves  to  be  mentioned  of  Lord  Fairfax,  that,  titled  as  he  was,  and 
rich,  he  never  failed  to  perform  his  duty  as  a  citizen  and  neighbour, 
but,  besides  acting  as  Keeper  of  the  Eolls  for  Frederick,  was  uniform 
jn  his  attendance  at  Winchester,  twelve  miles  off,  as  one  of  the 
magistrates  of  the  county.  The  poor  around  him  cultivated  some 
of  his  lands,  and  received  all  the  benefits  of  the  same.* 

To  McCoy's  and  Cunningham's  Chapel  are  to  be  added  two  on 
the  north  and  south  branches  of  Shenandoah,  whose  location  cannot 
now  be  ascertained,  one  in  Winchester,  one  at  Bunker's  Hill,  called 
Morgan's  Chapel,  of  which  we  shall  speak  more  fully  hereafter, 
perhaps  one  called  Wood's  Chapel,  between  Winchester  and  Charles- 
town,  and  one  at  Shepherdstown,  then  called  Mecklenburg  Chapel. 
All  these  were  probably  begun,  and  some  of  them  sufficiently  com- 
pleted for  use,  between  the  years  1740  and  1750.  In  1768,  Mr. 
Van  Swearingen  received  one  hundred  and  forty-eight  pounds  for 
completing  a  new  church  at  Mecklenburg,  now  Shepherdstown.  In 
the  year  1768,  Isaac  Site  was  directed  to  contract  for  a  church  at 
Leith's — place  not  known — for  forty-nine  pounds.  In  the  year  1774, 
a  church  was  ordered  to  be  built  near  Cedar  Creek  for  one  hundred 
pounds ;  whether  executed  or  not,  I  cannot  tell.  In  the  year  1772, 
it  was  resolved  to  build  a  church,  costing  two  hundred  and  fifty-two 
pounds,  at  Carney's  Spring,  near  Berryville,  on  land  given  by  Mr. 
Charles  Smith,  which  was  afterward  increased  to  four  hundred  and 
forty-nine  pound^,  and  a  contract  made  with  Mr.  John  Neville,  father 
of  General  Neville,  and  some  of  the  materials  collected  on  the  spot. 
In  the  following  year  it  was  determined  to  build  it  at  Cunningham's 

*  In  proof  of  the  needlessness  of  great  landed  or  other  possessions,  let  me  men- 
tion the  end  of  all  Lord  Fairfax's  earthly  property*  His  nephew,  Colonel  Martin, 
was  his  heir.  In  the  year  1794,  his  estate  in  lands  was  nine  thousand  seven  hun- 
dred acres.  My  father's  farm  lay  beside  it.  I  hare  a  letter  from  my  father  in  that 
year  to  Mr.  Charles  Carter,  of  Shirly,  on  James  River,  who,  it  seems,  thought  of 
moving  to  Frederick,  urging  him  to  purchase  it,  as  Colonel  Martin  had  determined 
to  selL  The  price  asked  was  forty  shillings  per  acre,  Virginia,  currency,  Tha 
whole  Northern  Neck  of  Virginia,  computed  at  many  millions  of  acres,  is  thus  re- 
duced to  less  than  ten  thousand. 


284  OLD   CHUBCHES,   MINISTERS,  AND 

Chapel,  two  acres  of  ground  being  given  by  Colonel  Hugh  Nelson,  of 
York,  the  then  owner  of  the  Burwell  tract,  and  the  materials  moved 
there.  Again  it  was  resolved  to  build  at  Carney's  Spring,  and  the 
materials  removed  a  second  time.  The  result  of  the  controversy  was 
that  no  such  church  was  ever  built,  though  the  money  was  in  hand. 
The  war  soon  came  on,  and  at  the  end  of  it  the  funds  were  delivered 
into  the  hands  of  the  overseers  of  the  poor.  In  the  year  1762,  a 
new  stone  church  was  contracted  for  in  Winchester, — the  same  which 
was  afterward  sold  in  order  to  build  the  present  church. 

Having  thus  brought  down  the  history  of  the  church-buildings  to 
the  time  of  the  Revolution,  we  will  now  give  a  list  of  the  lay  readers 
and  vestrymen  from  the  year  1764,  when  the  vestry-book  com- 
mences, merely  premising  that  the  county  and  parish  of  Frederick 
were  in  1769  divided  into  the  counties  of  Dunmore,  afterward 
changed  to  Shenandoah,  Frederick,  and  Berkeley,  and  into  the 
parishes  of  Beckford,  Frederick,  and  Norbone. 

Names  of  the  vestrymen  from  the  year  1764  until  the  year  1780, 
when  no  more  meetings  of  the  vestry  take  place  until  1785 : — Isaac 
Hite,  John  Hite,  John  Greenleaf,  Thomas  Rutherford,  James  Keith, 
John  Neville,  Charles  Smith,  James  Wood,  Jacob  Hite,  Thomas 
Wadlington,  Burr  Harrison,  Thomas  Swearingen,  Van  Swearingen, 
Angus  McDonald,  Philip  Bush,  Frederick  Conrad,  George  Rice, 
Alexander  White,  James  Barnett,  Marquis  Calmes,  John  McDonald, 
Edward  Snickers,  Warner  Washington,  Joseph  Holmes,  Benjamin 
Sedwick,  Edmund  Taylor,  John  Smith,  Samuel  Dowdal.  Of  these, 
Philip  Bush  and  some  others,  in  consequence  of  some  unknown  diffi- 
culties, resigned  in  the  year  1774,  though  all  of  them  resumed  their 
seats  except  Mr.  Bush.  Lord  Fairfax  in  the  year  1775  made  a  deed 
to  Mr.  Bush,  Frederick  Conrad,  and  others,  for  the  lot  on  which  the 
Lutheran  church  stood,  though  Mr.  Conrad  continued  as  vestry- 
man until  the  year  1780,  when  the  vestries  were  all  dissolved  by 
Act  of  Assembly.  James  Wood,  who  was  both  clerk  and  vestry- 
man, resigned  in  1777  and  entered  the  army.  He  rose  to  the  rank 
of  General,  and  was  afterward  Governor  of  the  State,  and  repre- 
sented the  parish  two  years  in  Convention  while  Governor.  James 
Barnett  resigned  in  1773  and  joined  the  Baptists. 

The  lay  readers  during  all  this  period,  at  the  different  chapels, 
were  John  Ruddell,  James  Barnett,  John  Barns,  Henry  Nelson, 
James  Graham,  Henry  Frencham,  Morgan  Morgan,  John  James, 
William  Dobson,  William  Howard,  John  Lloyd. 


FAMILIES   OP   VIRGINIA.  285 


THE  MINISTERS  OF  FREDERICK  PARISH. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Gordon  was  the  first;  when  his  ministry  commenced 
and  ended,  not  known.  The  Eev.  Mr.  Meldrum  comes  next,  and 
continues  until  1765.  Between  him  and  the  vestry  a  long  law-suit 
was  carried  on,  which  terminated  in  his  favour.  The  vestry  applied 
to  the  Legislature  for  relief,  and  obtained  it.  Mr.  Sebastian  was  re- 
commended by  the  vestry  to  the  Bishop  of  London  for  Orders  in  1766, 
and  became  their  minister,  but  after  two  years  removed  to  North- 
umberland county.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Thruston  became  the  minister  in 
1768,  binding  himself  to  preach  at  seven  places  scattered  over  the 
large  parish  of  Frederick,  Shepherdstown  being  one  of  them.  Mr. 
Thruston  was  a  native  of  Gloucester,  where  the  name  still  abounds, 
and  was  captain  of  the  militia  in  that  county.  The  vestry  of  Pets- 
worth  parish,  in  Gloucester,  recommended  him  for  Orders,  and  he 
was  their  minister  for  some  years  before  coming  to  Frederick.  He 
laid  down  the  ministry  and  entered  the  army  in  1777.  After  the 
war  he  lived  at  Mount  Zion,  in  Frederick.  In  his  latter  days  he 
removed  to  the  neighbourhood  of  New  Orleans,  and,  it  is  said,  was 
preparing  to  take  some  part  in  defending  that  place  against  the 
British  when  they  were  defeated  by  General  Jackson.  He  was 
the  father  of  the  late  Judge  Thruston,  of  the  District  of  Columbia, 
and  the  ancestor  of  many  respectable  families  in  Virginia  and  else- 
where. From  the  time  of  Colonel  Thruston's  resignation  in  1777 
to  the  year  1785,  there  was  no  minister,  so  far  as  we  can  ascertain. 
In  the  year  1785,  a  vestry  was  elected,  consisting  of  Colonel  R.  K. 
Meade,  George  F.  Norton,  churchwardens,  John  Thruston,  Edward 
Smith,  Raleigh  Colston,  Girard  Briscoe,  John  Milton,  Robert  Wood, 
Major  Thomas  Massey.  By  this  vestry  the  Rev.  Alexander  Bal- 
maine  was  chosen  minister.  He  had  been  chaplain  in  the  army 
of  the  Revolution,  in  which  a  number  of  the  above-mentioned  vestry- 
men had  served.  Mr.  Balmaine  was  born  in  Scotland,  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Edinburgh,  in  the  year  1740,  was  educated  at  St. 
Andrews  with  a  view  to  the  Presbyterian  ministry,  but  relinquished 
the  design.  Himself  and  his  brother,  who  was  a  lawyer,  were 
warm  friends  of  the  Colonists  in  the  Stamp  Act  difficulties,  and 
became  so  obnoxious  on  that  account  to  the  loyalists  about  Edin- 
burgh, that  they  thought  it  best  to  try  their  fortunes  elsewhere, 
and  moved  to  London,  where  they  became  acquainted  with  Mr. 
Arthur  Lee,  who  recommended  Mr.  Balmaine  to  the  family  of 
Richard  Henry  Lee,  as  private  tutor.  While  there,  he  prepared 


286  OLD    CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,    AND 

for  the  ministry  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  upon  receiving  Orders 
became  rector  of  Augusta  parish,  then  extending  to  the  Ohio  River, 
and  including,  it  is  believed,  Pittsburg  itself,  for  he  paid  several 
visits  to  the  Episcopalians  in  that  place.  When  our  difficulties 
commenced  with  England,  true  to  his  principles  adopted  in  Scot- 
land, he  took  an  early  and  active  part,  was  chairman  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Safety  in  Augusta,  and  drafted  the  resolution  adopted 
by  that  committee.  Soon  after  this,  he  entered  the  Virginia  line 
as  chaplain,  and  continued  so  until  the  very  close  of  the  war. 
Mr.  Balmaine  was  the  rector  of  the  parish  of  Frederick  until  his 
death.  I  was  his  assistant  during  a  number  of  the  last  years  of 
his  life. 


FAMILIES   OF  VIRGINIA*  287 


ARTICLE  LXXH. 
Parishes  in  Frederick  County. — No.  2. 

AFTER  the  death  of  Mr.  Bahnaine,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bryan  officiated 
for  a  time  at  Winchester,  Bunker's  Hill,  and  Wickliffe,  in  the  ca- 
pacity of  assistant  to  myself,  for  a  few  years.  He  was  followed  by 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Robertson  as  assistant  in  Winchester  alone.  After  a 
few  years  he  resigned  and  went  on  a  mission  to  Greece.  In  the 
year  1827,  Christ  Church,  Winchester,  was  organized  into  a  sepa- 
rate parish,  to  be  called  the  parish  of  Frederick,  Winchester,  with 
the  Rev.  J.  E.  Jackson,  minister.  Mr.  Jackson  was  one  of  three 
worthy  brothers  of  most  respectable  parentage  in  Tutbury,  England, 
all  of  whom  ministered  in  the  Church  of  Virginia  and  elsewhere  in 
this  country.  The  Rev.  J.  E.  Jackson  was  the  father  of  the  Rev. 
William  Jackson,  who  recently  died  so  enviable  a  death  in  Norfolk. 
He  was  a  most  diligent  and  faithful  pastor,  preaching  the  true 
doctrines  of  the  Gospel.  Under  his  careful  supervision  the  present 
excellent  church  and  parsonage  were  built.  In  1842,  he  resigned 
and  moved  to  Kentucky.  He  was  succeeded  in  1842  by  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Rooker,  who  resigned  in  1847.  Its  present  rector,  the  Rev. 
Cornelius  Walker,  succeeded  Mr.  Rooker.  In  May,  1834,  another 
division  of  Frederick  parish  took  place,  when  Wickliffe,  including 
Berryville,  was  organized.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Jackson  had  been  my 
assistant  in  that  part  of  the  parish  for  two  years  before  this.  The 
Rev.  Mr.  Rice  had  preceded  him  in  that  capacity.  The  Rev.  Mr. 
Shiraz  followed  Mr.  Jackson.  Its  next  was  the  Rev.  Richard  Wil- 
mer,  who  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Peterkin.  Its  present,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Whittle.  This  parish  has  recently  been  subdivided,  and 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Powell,  who  was  disappointed  during  the  last  year  in 
going  to  China,  is  the  minister  of  that  part  which  includes  Wickliffe 
Church*  Another  offshoot  was  also  made  from  Frederick  parish  many 
years  since,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Middletown,  where  a  parish 
was  organized  and  a  neat  brick  church  built  in  the  village,  under 
the  auspices  of  the  late  Strother  Jones,  th&  families  of  Hites,  and 
others.  It  has  had  mainly  to  depend  on  the  occasional  services  of 
the  ministers  in  Winchester.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Bryant  and  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Irish  were  each  for  some  time  settled  among  them,  and  in  none 


283  OLD   CHURCHES,    MINISTERS,   AND 

of  our  congregations  have  more  zeal  and  liberality  been  displayed, 
according  to  numbers  and  means. 

Having  thus  spoken  of  the  five  different  divisions  of  Frederick 
parish,  after  itself  had  been  reduced  by  Acts  of  Assembly,  I  pro- 
ceed to  mention  the  new  churches  built  since  the  Revolution,  in 
addition  to  those  at  Winchester  and  Middletown,  already  alluded 
to.  Among  the  first  things  done  by  the  vestry  of  Frederick,  after  its 
reorganization  in  1787,  was  the  adoption  of  measures  for  the  build- 
ing of  a  stone  chapel  where  it  was  designed  to  erect  that  one  which 
failed,  through  the  disagreement  of  the  people  and  vestry,  just  be- 
fore the  Revolution, — viz. :  where  that  called  Cunningham's  Chapel 
stood.  The  land  having  now  come  into  possession  of  Colonel 
Nathaniel  Burwell,  the  same  two  acres  for  a  church  and  burying- 
ground,  which  were  offered  by  Colonel  Hugh  Nelson  before  the 
war,  were  now  given  by  Colonel  Burwell,  and  the  present  stone 
chapel  ordered  to  be  built  in  1790.  At  what  time  it  was  completed 
does  not  appear,  but  probably  in  the  same  year.  After  the  revival 
of  our  Church  in  Virginia  commenced,  a  stone  church  was  built 
at  Wi